There was a clown nose and some fake teeth, but yesterday’s announcement of Calgary’s newest health facility is no laughing matter.
The legendary and endearingly memorable doctor Patch Adams was on hand as the Calgary Health Region launched the funding campaign for the Southern Alberta Institute of Urology, to be located at the Rockyview Hospital.
“I was going to give prostate exams, but they wouldn’t let me,” the eccentric doctor joked as he donned red clown noses and fake teeth.
The real announcement was that of the new facility, which will become Canada’s most comprehensive urology centre, catering to urological conditions such as prostate and kidney cancers.
“Urological problems can touch many Albertans and this facility will provide citizens with the urgent and critical care they need,” CHR chief medical officer Dr. David Megran told Metro.
According to Megran, 2,400 men are affected with prostate cancer in Alberta annually and eight die from the disease each week.
Lead donors, and prostate cancer survivors, Daryl K. Seaman and W. Brett Wilson both contributed $5 million each towards the $28-million facility. A total of $19 million has been raised to date.
“No one likes to talk about what goes on below the belt, but keeping these issues in the dark can be fatal,” Wilson said.
-krista.sylvester@metronews.ca
