Dr. Silvana Spadafora moved to Sault Ste. Marie in 1994 – 30 years ago this January. As an oncologist, Dr. Spadafora has seen a lot of changes in local cancer care since then. She, herself, helped bring about many of the changes to our healthcare in the Algoma Region – as a passionate advocate for our new hospital, for the formation of the Northern Ontario Medical School, and for the Algoma District Cancer Program (ADCP) in Sault Ste. Marie.
ADCP serves hundreds of members of our region, giving local patients the opportunity to access outstanding cancer care close to home. But cancer care is more than the cancer clinic. Each department at Sault Area Hospital works together, like a well-oiled machine, to provide care to cancer patients.
"I work with pathologists, radiologists, surgeons, pharmacists, emergency medicine, medical daycare, day surgery... For every patient that needs cancer care, we depend on so many other areas," Dr. Spadafora shares.
Treatment options 30 years ago were very different from what's available today.
"Knowledge has exploded, the tools we've been given to fight are incredible,” she shares. “There are treatments offered today that didn't exist even 5 or 10 years ago."
Dr. Spadafora is committed to making innovative treatments available to her patients locally, but some of that innovation depends on critical medical equipment.
Local donations purchase diagnostic tools to help find cancer, and track progress of treatment. Community support buys surgical tools that help remove tumours with increasing precision. Gifts to Sault Area Hospital Foundation help fund the replacement of treatment chairs, beds and IV pumps that all keep patients comfortable when receiving care.
“Cancer care is a team effort,” says Dr. Spadafora – and you, the community, can be part of that team! Support for SAHF helps to keep SAH up-to-date with medical equipment and technology, giving cancer patients the ability to access recent, evidence-based therapies. It gives hope to all who access cancer care here: Hope that their treatment will help bring positive results; hope that they'll be able to spend future holidays with their loved ones; and hope for a better, healthier, tomorrow.
Community gifts buy the tools Dr. Spadafora and her colleagues need to provide outstanding local care.
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