“Of course, it had to screw up my hunting season.”
Ken Hudson was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in September. Aside from interrupting his hunting season, the disease meant Hudson would have to receive a series of monthly chemotherapy treatments outside of his home community of Fort Smith.
Having previously served as president of the Fort Smith Métis Council for two decades, Hudson said he’s used to advocating for others. However, as he was locked in a battle with cancer over the past four months, he also found himself fighting for accommodations that he feels should have been easily accessible.
For his first treatment in Edmonton in October, Hudson took his wife with him as a non-medical escort. The GNWT provides benefits for patients who require a non-medical escort as part of its Medical Travel Program. According to a document outlining the criteria for reimbursement, the policy is founded on the principles that “the cost of medical travel should not be an economic barrier to access Insured Health Services” and “The Medical Travel Program should be transparent and accountable.”
“It just eases your mind, helps you through the whole system,” said Hudson.
The night before he left for his second treatment in Yellowknife, he still didn’t know where he would be staying when he arrived, meaning he had to drive up from Fort Smith a day early and pay for his own hotel.
“You’ve got nothing, no paperwork, nothing. Not even a scrap of paper with some dates on it. Nothing,” he said.
When he arrived, he found out he was booked to stay at the Vital Abel Boarding Home, despite his immune system being compromised by the chemotherapy treatment.
“I can’t be staying at Vital Abel because every frickin’ disease known to man has probably been in that building one time,” he said.
After arguing with Medical Travel staff, they eventually agreed to put him in a private hotel room.
Upon returning from Yellowknife, he found out that his request for reimbursement for his escort had been refused.
“There’s no reason. They don’t give you a reason,” he said. “They just say no.
“So that trip there, we still haven’t got the cheque back for (it). I think they’re still reviewing it or something. I don’t know what the hell they’re doing, but it’s not much money anyway. Maybe for some people it might be an issue.”
Leading up to what was supposed to be his third treatment in December, also in Yellowknife, his wife was approved to be his escort three days before he was due to arrive.
Then, he got a call from his wife.
“She called back and said, ‘There are no seats on the plane. They’re all full.’ So they didn’t reserve any seats on the plane,” said Hudson.
He couldn’t go to his third treatment.
He was eventually able to receive chemotherapy again earlier this month. For his next round, from Feb. 7 to 9, he said he still doesn’t know if he’ll be allowed an escort.
He contacted the office of the deputy health minister to raise his concerns, but to no avail.
“They treat you like sheep. You know, you can’t question anything. As soon as you do you’re frickin’ labelled a troublemaker, which I am anyway,” he said.
Frieda Martselos, the Thebacha MLA representing Fort Smith, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Hudson said he hopes the system will improve, not just for him, but for others who are vulnerable.
“Just imagine that a young person 18 years old has cancer and is sent out like I am, you know? That’s just not right,” he said.
Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority (NTHSSA) spokesperson David Maguire said if an escort is recommended by a clinician but not approved by the NTHSSA, the clinician is contacted to provide further justification for their recommendation. The patient is then informed of the decision either through a Medical Travel Office or a local health centre.
“The NTHSSA strives to provide as much notification as possible,” Maguire said.
He added that there is no standard time for when patients are given the details of their trip, including accommodations and allowances, but that medical travel is usually not coordinated earlier than three weeks before an appointment.