Capacity limits at Stollery in Edmonton lead to chemotherapy delays for children

Samantha Dornbusch has been bringing her son Jaxson to Edmonton’s Stollery Children’s Hospital for six years to treat his high-risk B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia, an aggressive form of blood cancer that primarily affects children.

Jaxson, now nine years old, would sometimes spend days at the hospital to receive chemotherapy treatment before returning home.

Over the last two years, on at least three occasions, they say they would show up to the hospital only to have staff tell them that his treatments would be delayed because there were no beds currently available.

“It was frustrating more than anything,” Dornbusch said.

Each time she said they would have to wait two to four days for another appointment to be scheduled.

Jaxson has been in remission from his cancer since September. His