On Sept. 22, Red Deer residents and special guests arrived for the sod-turning ceremony for the Central Alberta Cancer Centre.
The $46-million centre is being built adjacent to the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre’s Cancer Centre; the Government of Canada is also supplying the new centre with an additional $13.6 million. As part of its improved access to care for area residents, the centre will also contain additional rooms and will be able to offer radiation therapy – a first for the region, which will make Red Deer the fourth city in Alberta, alongside Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge, to offer this treatment.
According to Alberta Health Services, this new facility will decrease from 28 per cent to eight per cent of Albertans having to travel 100-plus kilometres for treatment.
The centre follows on the heels of Lethbridge’s recently opened Jack Ady Cancer Centre at the Chinook Regional Hospital, as part of the plan for a cancer care corridor from Lethbridge to Grande Prairie.
