Cancer bell ringing ceremony brought back after families voice concerns: AHS

After pausing the program on Monday, AHS says it will bring back the milestone bell ringing ceremony for cancer patients in March.

Alberta Health Services (AHS) says it will bring back the bell ringing ceremony for cancer patients in the new year after making a decision to scrap it earlier this week.

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The bell ringing ceremony allows cancer unit patients to ring a large bell when they reach a treatment milestone and shift towards the recovery phase.

On Monday, AHS released a news statement that read in part:

“To ensure that patients can continue to safely celebrate treatment milestones, the (Stollery Children’s Hospital) has transitioned to a new celebration by gifting patients with a bell they can take home and celebrate with their family and friends as they wish.”

Health officials cited concerns over the “health and safety of immunocompromised patients, especially during respiratory virus season” and the emotional impact on those still “actively receiving treatment or experiencing bereavement” by continuing with a public-space ceremony.

“Some families really … love the bell ringing, but there are others that really don’t, and it is a trigger for them,” Christine Westerlund with the Stollery Children’s Hospital told CTV News Edmonton on Monday. “And so how do we just not make it as kind of a standard thing that happens, but how do we actually change it to be more customized and meaningful to those individuals.”

AHS walks back policy

In a news statement on Friday, AHS said it heard concerns from patients and families over the decision to remove the bell ringing policy and it will make it available as an option again starting March 1, 2026 “as the peak respiratory virus season declines.”

The updated policy will allow patients to choose between the return of the in-person ceremony, or to receive a small gift bell, or to do the ceremony away from the cancer unit with support from the Kids With Cancer Society, which offers bell ringing celebrations at its own facility.

“The end of cancer treatment is an important milestone for patients and families, as well as our staff members who care for them,” AHS said in the news statement on Friday. “The Stollery team has always done their best to make the transition meaningful.”

Family devastated over bell ringing policy change

On Friday, Karemi Dye-Wilson told CTV News Edmonton that their family was “devastated” over the original policy change. She said she found out the news by reading a letter that was left in the hospital waiting room.

“I was reading through it and I was shocked,” Dye-Wilson recalled. “Of all the things to take away from the cancer kids – I know budget cuts are a big thing – but I was shocked that this would be one of those things.”

She said her daughter, Myla, has been battling leukemia for two years.

“Her face dropped and there were tears, and we talked about it all on the drive home,” Dye-Wilson said, describing Myla’s reaction to the news following her doctor’s appointment.

Dye-Wilson described the bell ringing ceremony as a form of “closure” in a cancer journey, providing both a “symbol of hope” and a “symbol of promise.” She said while her daughter’s journey has been difficult – with surgeries and blood transfusions and hundreds of chemo sessions – it isn’t even the hardest journey in the unit.

“Having it just taken away from us and so nonchalantly with just this letter left out in the waiting room was so devastating,” Dye-Wilson added.

She is now excited that the bell ringing ceremony will once again be an option for families again in March, saying it is important that it be made available for all families who want it.

“It was just this intense feeling of hope, and I felt myself welling up with tears and just, ‘Oh goodness.’ There’s other kids who’ve made it through this, maybe Myla will get to ring that bell one day, too.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Brenden Purdy, Jeremy Thompson