Finding Solutions: Kathy Bernard on skin cancer, advocacy, and access to care

Guest Info:

Kathy Bernard is the founder and president of the Save Your Skin Foundation, a national patient-led organization dedicated to skin cancer education, prevention, advocacy, and patient support. After receiving a metastatic malignant melanoma diagnosis in 2003 and navigating a complex healthcare journey, she built a national network to ensure no patient faces cancer alone.Website: saveyourskin.ca

Episode Notes:

When Kathy Bernard was diagnosed with metastatic malignant melanoma in 2003, she faced a reality familiar to far too many Canadians: a delayed diagnosis, limited public information, and a complex healthcare system with no clear roadmap for patients. After a year of treatments, she learned the cancer had spread to her lungs. Her path forward required leaving her home, family, and province to enter a clinical trial at Alberta’s Cross Cancer Institute.

That clinical trial saved her life. Driven by her experience navigating out-of-province care, financial burdens, and systemic hurdles, Kathy vowed that no Canadian facing skin cancer would ever have to go through it alone. In 2006, she founded the Save Your Skin Foundation, starting with a personal 1-800 phone line that has since grown into a national support system providing education, advocacy, clinician mentoring, and direct financial support for patients.

In this episode of Finding Solutions, Dan Albas sits down with Kathy to discuss the realities of patient self-advocacy, the “postal code lottery” in Canadian drug coverage and clinical trial access, healthcare equity in remote communities, and practical sun safety habits for everyone enjoying an active outdoor lifestyle in the Okanagan.