Screen for Life Coach Booking Locally Before Regional Tour
Published Tuesday, March 4, 2025
The Screen for Life Coach offers breast, cervical, and colon cancer screening services across Northwestern Ontario.
Getting screened for cancer can fall to the bottom of your to-do list for many reasons: a busy schedule, accessing a primary care provider, or maybe you're not sure if it's even necessary. With the Screen for Life Coach (Coach) parked in various locations around Thunder Bay until the end of March, there's no better time to check cancer screening off your list.
The Coach is a mobile cancer screening bus that delivers three cancer screening programs to residents in Northwestern Ontario:
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Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP): Breast screening mammograms to eligible women, Two-Spirit, trans, and nonbinary people ages 40 to 74.
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Ontario Cervical Screening Program (OCSP): Cervical screening test to anyone with a cervix, ages 25-69, who is or has ever been sexually active.
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ColonCancerCheck Program: Take-home fecalimmunochemical test (FIT) kits to people ages 50 to 74, regardless of gender, with no family history of colon cancer.
Each winter, the Coach provides these cancer screening services in Thunder Bay before hitting the road in April to visit more than 36 communities across Northwestern Ontario.
“This is a crucial time for residents of Thunder Bay to access screening on the Coach before it heads out to the region in a few weeks,” says Caitlund Davidson, Prevention and Screening Coordinator at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. “We know that barriers like transportation and scheduling can make it difficult to get screened, so the Coach brings cancer screening right to your neighbourhood. The Coach will be parked at familiar, accessible areas like the 55 Plus Centre, Superstore, and the DaVinci Centre throughout March, giving more people the chance to take advantage of this service close to home before we begin our regional tour.”
Getting screened can provide peace of mind. “Cancer screening is for people who do not have any symptoms,” continues Davidson. “Most cancers don't show symptoms in the early stages but screening can catch cancer early, when it's most treatable.”
If you have a valid OHIP card, there is no cost to be screened by the Coach and a doctor referral is not required if you are at average risk and are within the recommended screening age range. If you are eligible for breast, cervical, and colon cancer screening, you can book all three appointments for one visit. Flexible scheduling options, including morning, afternoon, evening, and weekend appointments, make it easier to find a time that works for you.
Visit tbrhsc.net/screenforlife to see the Coach schedule, and call (807) 684-7777 to book your appointment. If you can't make it before the end of March, the Coach will be back for limited appointments throughout the summer.
Article by Jasmin Fisher, Cancer Promotion and Communications Planner