Central Plains Cancer Services is now reopening to the public.

As part of the reopening process with the province, the service is finally able to move ahead in a more normal manner. Executive director Sharilyn Knox shares the good news.

"We have been closed to the public since we were in code red," says Knox. "Now, with the code orange restrictions, we have opened our doors with limited hours. So, we're open Mondays to Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and 1:00 to 3:00. We still encourage people, if you can, to do whatever you need to do with us over the phone or online. But if you do need to come to our office, we will be here to help you."

Knox says all their plans had to be done virtually until now.

"One important thing to know is that our driving program was the only one in the province that didn't stop," adds Knox. "We made a decision early on with our drivers and with our board that we would figure out ways to have it done safely. We needed our patients and their families to get to their appointments. We have been extremely busy. So, on average in the months of 2021, our drivers were traveling over 14,000 to 15,000 kilometers a month to get people to their cancer appointments. Cancer hasn't stopped during COVID, and we've just done what we could to make sure people get what they need."

She says they're here to support everybody in the Central Plains region.

"It's important to know that our region is large," continues Knox. "We go as far west as Minnedosa, east to Elie, south to Swan Lake/Somerset area, and we go all the way north to McCreary. So, it's a big area with lots of people to support and we're here to help. If you want more information, feel free to call our office at (204) 857-6100 or check us out on Facebook or our website -- centralplainscancerservices.com."

Knox shares how you can support Central Plains Cancer Services.

"You can do it many ways," explains Knox. "We do have an online donation portal that you can find on our website. As many people know, we used to do a door-to-door campaign and that stopped when COVID started. We're always looking for continuous donations because we still need to continue to support the people in our region. And if you want more information again on donating, feel free to call our office."

She explains how their usual fundraising efforts will take place from this point in time.

"It's been two years since our Table-For-800 event, and so in the last little while as things have been improving, A lot of my volunteers and committees have been reaching out," says Knox. "We've been kind of brainstorming as to what we're going to do and what things are going to look like. But stay tuned. I think you'll start to see more from us starting this fall."