It is with great pleasure that Cancercare announces the anticipated opening of the West Coast Cancercare unit in August 2022. The unit will be led by Dr Jorn Malan, currently one of the Cancercare oncologists in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha). The medical consultation rooms attached to the Life West Coast Private Hospital in Vredenburg are currently under construction and are due to be completed in July 2022.
About Dr Malan
Dr Malan matriculated at The Settlers High School in Bellville, Cape Town, in 1977 and completed his Medical degree through the University of Stellenbosch in 1983.
“My journey in oncology started when I worked as a medical officer in the Department of radiation oncology at the Provincial Hospital in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) in 1988. I was considering a career in palliative medicine and worked after-hours with the St Francis Hospice and Cancer Associations. Together with my wife Lee-Ann, we also ran a support group for cancer patients at our home. However, in 1998 I decided to specialise in clinical and radiation oncology and qualified through UCT at the Groote Schuur Hospital in 2001”, says Dr Malan.
Dr Malan returned to work as a Clinical and Radiation Oncologist at the Provincial Hospital in Port Elizabeth, before joining Cancercare (then known as GVI Oncology) in August 2002.
The Cancercare Langenhoven Drive Oncology Centre in Port Elizabeth has grown to be the largest single practice in the Cancercare fold, with 6 oncologists, assisted by three full time and one part-time medical officer, with a further medical officer allocated to the Clinical Study Unit. This enabled him to pursue his main fields of interest and he has specialised in urology (in particular prostate cancer), gastro-Intestinal and lung cancers over the past 20 years.
Cancercare West Coast
Dr Malan explained “A surgical colleague had moved to Vredenburg a few years ago and made me aware of the dire lack of support for cancer patients on the West Coast, with the nearest oncologists stationed either at Blaauberg or at the Cancercare practices in Panorama or Cape Gate, over 100km away. Those even further north are forced to travel as far as Kimberley. It is for this reason that we are establishing the West Coast Cancercare unit, our 7th Cancercare practice, at the Life West Coast Private Hospital in Vredenburg.”
Dr Malan is looking forward to the challenges ahead. Although patients will no longer have to travel to Cape Town for their consultations or chemotherapy, they would initially still have to be referred there for any irradiation. As this daily treatment can vary from a single day to as long as seven and a half weeks, he is currently working to establish a transport service for our patients.
“With patients scattered over a wide area of the West Coast, I will endeavour to limit the distances travelled by initiating a teleconsulting practice for patients unable to attend regular consultations. There are of course numerous other challenges facing our patients, not the least of which is financial. With my experience in the Hospice and Cancer Association, I would like to try and address all the needs of the oncology patients of the community, irrespective of whether they are on medical aid”, states Dr Malan.
From the entire team at Cancercare, we thank Dr Malan for his dedication to our patients and for supporting Cancercare as we broaden our reach to provide outstanding care to the many cancer patients and their families on the West Coast and surrounding areas. We all deeply appreciate your commitment to the road ahead.