Ottawa Amazon warehouse offers cancer screening to employees

Amazon hired a nurse practitioner to facilitate cancer screening for the growing number of Ottawa-area residents who don’t have a regular primary-care provider. A study found 73.1% of Ont. patients with doctors were up to date on their colorectal cancer screening, compared with 49.5% of people who relied on walk-in clinics. The gap was similar for breast and cervical cancer screening. As of Oct. 31, 185 screening tests were ordered, 20% of which were for patients who were never screened for cancer and 54% of which were for patients who were overdue. Of all the tests ordered, 7.4% came back abnormal. Health experts say the program at Amazon could provide a road map for cancer screening in other parts of Canada grappling with the same shortage of family doctors.