Calgary Cancer Centre passed to Alberta Health Services
Posted Dec 9, 2022 4:29 pm.
Last Updated Dec 9, 2022 4:35 pm.
The newly built Calgary Cancer Centre will have a new home with Alberta Health Services (AHS), the province announced Friday.
Infrastructure Minister Nathan Neudorf and Health Minister Jason Copping made the announcement at the $1.4-billion centre next to the Foothills Medical Centre in northwest Calgary.
AHS calls it the “largest government infrastructure project in the province.”
Once construction is complete and AHS takes over, it will spend the next year getting the facility ready for patients from across southern Alberta.
The centre is scheduled to open its doors in 2024.
Dr. John Cowell, who was appointed as the official administrator of AHS after the province gave the boot to the governing board last month, says there are about 200,000 Albertans who currently have cancer, and one in two will get it in their lifetime.
He says it’s a personal achievement for everyone involved.
“This centre is just an amazing, world-class facility that’s going to look after patient care, diagnosis and all that amazing research,” he said. “It’s going to be a magnet for researchers everywhere to come and pay attention.”
The nearly 187,000 square metres long, 13-story facility will have 160 inpatient beds and 100 patient exam rooms, and it will provide a wide range of healthcare services for cancer patients.
There are 15 radiation vaults and also 1,650 parking stalls.
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David Shepard, with the NDP, says he is “pleased” with the advancement of the Calgary Cancer Centre project.
“This is an important state-of-the-art facility which the Alberta NDP government was proud to provide funding to build so that cancer patients can receive high-quality care,” Shepard said.
“The UCP criticized our work to build the Calgary Cancer Centre in government, calling it a fancy box. And previous conservative governments didn’t want to see the project completed at all.
“I am concerned about staffing plans for the centre, especially as the UCP’s chaos in health care has driven health care workers out of the province.”
The Cancer Centre has gone through many premier hands, starting with Ralph Klein in 2005. After Klein’s announcement, Ed Stelmach cancelled the plan in 2008. Allison Redford, in 2013, pushed forward and announced a $1.3 billion plan to replace the Tom Baker Cancer Centre.
After falling into Jim Prentice’s hands shortly after, the plan was replaced with changes to Tom Baker. Rachel Notley’s NDP government gave it the push in 2015 with additional funding and ultimately saw the start of construction in 2017.
-With files from The Canadian Press
