Juravinski gets money for new stem cell unit, just as agency warns of research cuts

Frank Tousaw heats his Caistor Centre home with wood, which means regularly trudging out to the back lot to chop wood. But the survivor of non-Hodgkins lymphoma is happy to do it.

Tousaw spoke at an event Friday, when the province announced $25 million for a new Juravinski Cancer Centre stem cell therapy unit. Stem cell treatment saved Tousaw's life, he said, and is the reason he's still around to chop wood, or play hockey twice a week, or spend time with his four daughters.

"I've gone back to work," said Tousaw, who's in his 60s. "I'm back full time, and enjoying all the activities I did before … That's what drove me through my treatment. I had too much life to live."

The provincial announcement is a major piece in building the unit, which has been in the works for years. It comes, oddly, amid a warning from the Ontario Institute of Regenerative Medicine that cuts are coming to stem cell research in Ontario.

The money announced Friday will add 15 new in-patient beds at the new Juravinski unit, plus expanded oncology day services, 11 more treatment bays and a renovated pharmacy, among other elements.

The community has already donated more than $5 million for the unit through the Tomorrow Stems From You campaign, and the unit will open in 2020. Tousaw is one of the faces of the campaign.

Tousaw said his voice wavered a little during his speech, which is "an indication of the emotional attachment I have to this place and the treatment that I received."

In a nutshell, he said, healthy stem cells were harvested from him. Then he underwent aggressive chemotherapy, and the cells were inserted back into his body to create new healthy cells.

Construction on the unit started about a month ago, said Dr. Ralph Meyer, Hamilton Health Sciences's (HHS) vice president of oncology and palliative care and regional vice president of Cancer Care Ontario.

Only three hospitals in Ontario offer full stem cell treatment, Meyer said. The others are in Toronto and Ottawa.

Meanwhile, the Ontario Institute of Regenerative Medicine worries stem cell research will be reduced if its provincial funding isn't renewed in 2020. The institute awarded grants to 16 regenerative medicine research projects in Ontario this month, including one for a McMaster University.

Also on the health front, the city is also bracing for its public health unit to be amalgamated with units in Niagara, Brant and Haldimand-Norfolk.

Donna Skelly, PC MPP for Flamborough-Glanbrook, said the province forcing municipalities to go through their budgets "line by line" is what makes the Juravinski announcement possible.

"This is an example of why we needed to address inefficiencies in our budget," she said. "Had we not gone through our budget line by line — we're expecting municipalities to do the same, and boards of health as well — we can't find $25 million to put toward stem cell treatment."