Canadian Cancer Society shuts Happy Valley-Goose Bay office, cites lack of use

The Happy Valley-Goose Bay branch of the Canadian Cancer Society has shut its doors, as the non-profit organization says few people were visiting the office to access services.

Last year 32 people passed through its doors, as opposed to 200 Labradorians who used Canadian Cancer Society services by telephone or on the internet, said Matthew Piercey, the CEO for the charity's Newfoundland and Labrador division.

"What it boiled down to really was, there's a very low level of traffic that goes through the physical building in Happy Valley-Goose Bay," he told CBC Radio's Labrador Morning.

"What is the best use of donor dollars? Clearly with the economic climate across the country and in our province, we have to be very careful with how we use money and how we service people."

Piercey said the move saves the Canadian Cancer Society $100,000 annually.

'A different way of doing business'

Piercey said staff in the St. John's office will handle the Labrador traffic, although he pointed out most services, such as its free wigs for cancer patients, had already been handled out of the headquarters anyway.

"We'll take pictures of wigs, we'll then mail those wigs up to a person. If it's not the right wig, we'll go back and forth until the proper wig is established. That's what we've been doing in the past," he said.

"When we really looked into it, the majority of these programs were actually being done from the St. John's location all along, and that was the eye-opening thing."

Piercey said Labradorians shouldn't worry that services will become St. John's-centric, saying there is no change to Air Daffodil, which offers free flights for Labrador cancer patients, or to Daffodil Place, which provides accommodations while in the capital city.

"That's the biggest expense to programming here at the Canadian Cancer Society. Those programs are strictly for people outside St. John's," he said.