The director of diagnostic imaging at Bluewater Health says the current wait for breast screening is about half a year, since the Ontario government lowered the age for self-referral mammogram breast screening.
Individuals in their 40s have been able to book an appointment without needing a doctor's referral since October 8.
Deirdre Shipley said the response has been positive.
"We have received 194 self-referrals to date, and about 230 referrals from our physician group in the first week alone from patients in that 40 to 49 age range," said Shipley.
But, Shipley admits they're struggling with wait times now.
"Wait times are a little bit longer than we would like to see," she said. "A lot of the reason for that is, due to the cyber attack we were challenged to process those patients. The second reason we are struggling is with staffing. There is a shortage of skilled technologists in the area."
Shipley said some individuals are being prioritized.
"Patients who are waiting for screening appointments are waiting a little bit longer," she said. "Currently if you were to send in a referral, you would probably wait about six months. Those wait times are increasing across the province, it's not just a Bluewater Health issue. For our patients who are experiencing an issue with their breasts, or have a concern, those patients we typically see in two weeks or less."
Shipley said they would consider extending hours, if staffing levels increased.
"It is certainly a strategy that we're working towards, and we're working with our union partners and HR (human resources) to increase our recruitment in order to be able to run extended hours on weekends, evenings... that sort of thing," Shipley said.
Despite the backlog, Shipley shared how happy they are to see the interest.
"We're definitely pleased with the response," she said. "Screening is a very important tool to diagnose breast cancer early and we're very supportive of this new initiative to screen patients younger. It is a little bit challenging for us in order to get those patients in, but we are confident that we are going to be able to get them in, and get them in as soon as we can."
Shipley said while the initial flood of referrals was a bit overwhelming, staff were expecting it.
"Patients are increasingly educated about their own health and are advocating for themselves, which is great to see," she said.
Clerical staff were added to process appointments faster, but Shipley encourages patients to make appointments online.
"If you don't want to call and leave a message, you can quickly go onto our website BluewaterHealth.ca/mammography and you are able to book your appointment in a matter of minutes," she said.
The department typically mails letters to notify patients of their appointments, but the service is currently unavailable due to the ongoing strike by Canada Post workers.
"Because we are booking our screening appointments relatively far out, we are just hanging onto those letters and we are going to reassess how that situation evolves over the next few weeks. Obviously if it continues long term, we are going to have to make some different arrangements," Shipley said.
She said patients with appointments coming up in the next four to six weeks, regularly already receive reminder calls.
"My advice, really, is don't wait to get your referral in. Self referral is quick and easy and we can get you into our queue to be screened," Shipley said. "My other piece of advice is if you have symptoms, please don't wait. Even if you are in that queue and the situation changes, go see your doctor and we will make sure that we get you in as quickly as possible."
Shipley said for high school students thinking about post secondary education, the diagnostic imaging fields are a "great career choice" and there will be "lots of jobs in the future."