Our Response to COVID-19

We are all in unchartered waters as we join together to stop the spread of COVID-19 and take steps to protect the health of our neighbours as well as ourselves. At the Cedars Cancer Foundation we are particularly concerned that people living with cancer and in active cancer treatment or have previously been treated for cancer, older patients, and people with other serious chronic medical conditions are at heightened risk during this outbreak. We want to share relevant information with you as we strive to serve our community during this challenging time.

On behalf of all of us, we wish to recognize and thank our health care professionals who continue to provide our cancer patients with the outstanding and compassionate care that they are accustomed to.

Care at the Cedars Cancer Centre and the MUHC

Please be aware of the following:

• No visitors are permitted in the hospital;
• Volunteer participation in programs like Cedars CanSupport has been suspended:
• Everyone is being screened at all entrances to the MUHC and asked: Do you have fever or a cough or difficulty breathing?
• Only one care giver can accompany patients coming for a visit to one of our clinics of for a test or a treatment;
• Non-urgent appointments and procedures have been postponed.
• Our kiosk at the Cedars Cancer Centre has been closed, and we are not providing assistance for Opal registration for the time being.

For more information please consult: https://muhc.ca/coronavirus-covid-19

Information on Cancer and COVID-19

Recognizing that cancer patients and their families may require additional education materials and services at this time, we want to encourage anyone in need of support to visit one of the following websites for the latest information about COVID-19:
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection.html

https://santemontreal.qc.ca/en/public/coronavirus-covid-19/

Cedars Cancer Foundation

The experts have made it clear that the key to minimizing the impact of the outbreak is social distancing or more precisely severely limiting the opportunities for in person interaction. As a result the Cedars Cancer Foundation has postponed all upcoming fundraising activities including Cedars Hockey to Conquer Cancer, the Cedars Golf Classic, Piano Day and Mamma Mia Women's Association 18th Annual Mother's Day Dinner.

We are also asking our staff to work from home whenever possible, cancelling all business travel and insisting staff stay at home if they are sick, have been in contact with people who are ill or have travelled outside Canada. We have also decided not to hold any volunteer or donor meetings at the Foundation office, using instead all technologies at our disposal.

As you know, the local and global situations are changing very rapidly and as circumstances evolve we will continue to assess how best to proceed. In the interim, we appreciate that it is a time of stress and anxiety for all of us as we are concerned about the health of our families, our friends, our colleagues and ourselves.

Thank you as always for your support, and together we will meet the challenges ahead.