A London hospital is expanding its pop-up Pap smear program after the first two clinics experienced overwhelming demand.
St. Joseph’s Health Care in London held clinics in January and May, with attendance exceeding expectations. A third clinic is held on Friday.

St. Joseph’s invites anyone who has not been able to secure an appointment elsewhere to visit the hospital on November 1st between 9am and 12pm for a Pap test.

“The response we had in January was pretty overwhelming. We had over 100 people sign up that day,” said Dr. Robert Di Cecco, medical director of the St. Colposcopy Clinic. Joseph.

Di Cecco said the clinic held in May attracted 80 people, once again exceeding expectations.

“We thought, with the demand and how important this screening is, if we can even help some people, it will be worth it to continue.”

Pap tests are incredibly important for cervical health, Di Cecco said, explaining that they are most commonly used to detect changes in cells that can later turn into cervical cancer.

During previous clinics, when patients were asked why they chose to access the clinic, many reported that they were unable to secure Pap smear appointments, particularly without access to a family doctor, Di Cecco said.

“If someone can’t get into a primary care provider to do the screening, sometimes we end up finding out about them when they’re much more advanced and much more difficult to treat,” he said.

Di Cecco said he hopes to see the provincial government make progress on making health care more accessible in the future, but acknowledges that goals such as increasing the number of family doctors will take years to achieve.

“We have a problem right now and hopefully it’s something that other places pick up and start doing themselves. We know we’re a small drop in the bucket, but if this can scale, that would be huge. benefits for anyone who needs this type of screening.”

In addition to providing a much-needed service, Di Cecco added, it was extremely rewarding for him and his clinicians to provide the testing.

“The team here is excited to do it. These are people who need something and the way the teams have come together to meet that need has been quite remarkable.”