Our story: A community fighting for equity

For many decades, patients from Western NSW who were diagnosed with cancer had limited options for their treatment - their medical and radiation oncologists were based in Sydney and flew in and out of Dubbo, where a limited range of cancer treatments could be given.  Patients needing radiation therapy had to travel to Sydney, or more recently to Orange.  Patients needing advanced imaging such as PET scans would have to travel to Sydney.  Patients not infrequently were separated from loved ones at times of high stress, and suffered financial strain from funding frequent trips to the big smoke.

In the past decades, a groundswell of community support advocating for better access to services closer to home has been building from a small group of community members including Dr Joseph Canalese to the many thousands who signed the cancer centre campaign. We wanted our loved ones to be able to see local doctors, have their investigations performed in Dubbo, and receive treatment as close to home as possible - reducing travel times, fatigue, and financial stress, and enabling families to rally around their loved ones more easily.  This fight for equity became known as "Treatment closer to home", and the cry was picked up not just by people in the tiniest of communities in the West of our state, but by people around Australia who understood how important local care is for a patient facing cancer.  

The campaign took off locally and on social media, and in 2016 a petition was begun by community activists including Lyn Smith and Frances Peters-Little, requesting that a Cancer Centre be built in Dubbo as part of the Dubbo Hospital redevelopments.  It garnered over 46 thousand signatures, and was tabled in parliament by the Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton.  To our delight, the Australian federal and NSW state governments answered the community's calls for action, and the Western Cancer Centre was funded.

In 2020, the first sod was turned on the new development, and it is projected to open in mid 2021.   In the meantime, our oncology medical and nursing team have successfully pioneered new treatment models that now see patients receive certain types of cancer therapies in Cobar, Coonabarabran and Mudgee, with further sites planned for the future - providing care even closer to home.

Our community deserves the very best care that can be provided, and this is where the WCCF comes in.  We are here to fill in the gaps that the public health system cannot - to provide support for the whole person, to help them and their families get back on their feet after receiving a life changing diagnosis.

Our story is the inspirational story of a community of strong people, determined to help our loved ones through the toughest battle of their lives, with as much support, dignity, and comfort as possible.  Thank you for helping us achieve this vision.

The official opening of the new Western Cancer Centre, was on the 5 March 2022.
It was a wonderful day for all involved to see this important dream materialise into a world-class facility, equipped and staffed by state-of-the-art diagnostic, treatment equipment and expertise.