Your cancer care team is made up of many healthcare team members. Each plays a special role in helping you. Your Oncologist and Oncology Nurse will help to connect you with other team members when needed.
You may not see every team member listed below. Some are specialty services. This means that the healthcare team member is trained in a certain area of medicine or health. They support people who may have more complex health issues or need specific support. You may be referred to these services on an as needed basis. Talk with your Oncologist or Oncology Nurse to see if a specialty service might help you.
Read more about how each healthcare team member can support you. Note that this is not a full list of all healthcare providers within the health system. This chart includes who you might come in contact with while getting care the Waterloo Wellington Regional Cancer Program (WWRCP).
A doctor who has special training in treating cancer using cancer drugs (e.g. chemotherapy, immunotherapy).
Medical Oncologists can:
A doctor who has special training to treat cancer using radiation therapy.
A Radiation Oncologist can:
A doctor who has special training to treat blood cancers.
A Hematologist can:
A doctor who has special training in treating and removing cancer through surgery.
Your Surgical Oncologist can:
A doctor who has special training in cancer care.
GPOs work alongside your Oncologist to:
A Nurse Practitioner (NP) is an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN). They have extra education and training beyond that of a registered nurse (RN).
NPs have a license to perform a wide range of healthcare services. They focus on the whole person, not just one problem, to make sure healthcare is centered around patient needs.
NPs can:
Palliative Care Doctors are medical specialists who work to improve a patient’s comfort and quality of life. Their role is not just about end-of-life care (but that can be part of it). They help patients at any stage of a serious illness. This might include when they are getting cancer treatment.
Palliative Care Doctors can:
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who can diagnose, treat and prescribe medicines for mental health problems. A Psychiatrist can help you with:
Treatment from a Psychiatrist may include:
An Oncology Nurse is a Registered Nurse (RN) who has special training to work with people living with cancer.
Oncology Nurses have many roles in the cancer centre. They often:
Pharmacists work to make sure your medicines are safe and meet your healthcare needs.
Retail Pharmacists in the Cancer Centre:
Clinic and Chemo Suite Pharmacists
Being well nourished can help your treatment and quality of life. A cancer diagnosis and treatments may make it difficult to eat and drink well.
RDs support you to meet the unique nutrition needs that cancer causes.
Social Workers at WRHN Cancer Centre can offer counselling to you, and your family. You must be over the age of 18 to access these services.
Social Workers help you to:
Radiation Therapists help to plan and deliver your radiation treatments.
You can expect your Radiation Therapist to:
Spiritual care is about connecting with you at a time of great need and going on that journey with you. Many people think that Spiritual Care is ‘religious care’, but it’s much more than that.
Spiritual Care supports a whole-person approach to health care that includes:
Our Spiritual Care providers can help through:
A speech-language pathologist (SLP) focuses on assessing and treating issues with your swallowing, speech, language and voice.
SLPs support may include:
The goal of music therapy is to improve your quality-of-life using music. You don’t need any special training in music to benefit from a session. These sessions focus on your musical interests.
Our Music Therapist can help you to:
To contact your healthcare team at WRHN Cancer Centre follow our Calling Your Healthcare Team handout.
If you are having cancer care at a regional program site, please contact the hospital directly.
A guide on who to contact, and when, can be found in our Patient Orientation Guide.