Construction on Calgary Cancer Centre concludes, will accept patients in 2024
With construction on the Calgary Cancer Centre now complete, the provincial government has handed over control of the facility to Alberta Health Services (AHS).
Infrastructure Minister Nathan Neudorf and Health Minister Jason Copping made the announcement on Friday at the $1.4-billion facility, which sits next to the Foothills Medical Centre.
It's now up to AHS to fill the centre's empty spaces with equipment and get the building ready to accept patients in 2024.
"Nearly half of Albertans will deal with a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime, and that's why the Calgary Cancer Centre is so needed and so important," Copping said.
The 13-level building will feature outpatient clinics, 160 inpatient beds, wet and dry research labs, a clinical trials unit, 15 radiation treatment vaults and 1,650 stalls of underground parking.
"The centre was designed to encompass the whole continuum of cancer care -- from prevention, screening and early detection to research and collaboration, treatment development and clinical trials, to patient care and to education," Copping said.
It'll take in patients across the province.
"We are going to be an internationally-recognized cancer spot," said Dr. Dan Morris with AHS. "We will have a central referral area to serve all of Alberta."
The centre -- which is 187,000 square metres large -- was built with intake in mind.
Morris says the idea is to accommodate patients in the far future.
"When we moved in to the renovated Tom Baker Cancer Centre in 1999, we outstripped its space in about three or four years," he said. "So this has been a vision long-standing."
Copping acknowledged that AHS will need to attract workers to staff the centre, but wouldn't say how many.
Copping said he believes recruitment will play a massive role and is confident the building itself -- and all of its state-of-the-art equipment -- will help bring in workers.
With files from The Canadian Press
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
W5 EXCLUSIVE | Interviewing a narco hitman: my journey into Mexico's cartel heartland
W5 goes deep into the narco heartland to interview a commander with one of Mexico's most brutal cartels. W5's documentary 'Narco Avocados' airs Saturday at 7 pm on CTV.

Tyre Nichols' brutal beating by police shown on video
Memphis authorities released video footage Friday showing Tyre Nichols being beaten by police officers who held the Black motorist down and repeatedly struck him with their fists, boots and batons as he screamed for his mother and pleaded, ''I'm just trying to go home.'
OPINION | Selling a home? How to know if you qualify for a capital gains exemption
When selling a home, Canadians may be exempted from paying capital gains tax on a residential property -- if it's their principal residence. On CTVNews.ca, personal finance contributor Christopher Liew explains what's determined as a principal residence, and what properties are eligible for the exemption.
Inflation-focused Pierre Poilievre back to Parliament as health-care talks loom
With a deal under negotiation between Ottawa and provinces, and premiers invited to a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in early February, the issue remains one where the Tory leader's position appears somewhat murky, including to some inside his own party.
CRA head says it 'wouldn't be worth the effort' to review all ineligible pandemic payments
The head of the Canada Revenue Agency says it 'wouldn't be worth the effort' to fully review $15.5 billion in potentially ineligible pandemic wage benefit payments flagged by Canada's Auditor General.
Lifelong Toronto Maple Leafs fan fulfils dream of seeing first game, passes away next day
Mike Davy always dreamed of going to a Toronto Maple Leafs game, and once it finally happened, he passed away the night after.
Aryna Sabalenka beats Elena Rybakina for Australian Open women's title
Aryna Sabalenka, a 24-year-old from Belarus, who won her first Grand Slam title by coming back to beat Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at Melbourne Park on Saturday night, using 17 aces among her 51 total winners to overcome seven double-faults.
How to fix a howitzer: U.S. offers help line to Ukraine troops
Using phones and tablets to communicate in encrypted chatrooms, a rapidly growing group of U.S. and allied troops and contractors are providing real-time maintenance advice -- usually speaking through interpreters -- to Ukrainian troops on the battlefield.
'This is too much': B.C. mom records police handcuffing 12-year-old in hospital
A review has been launched after police officers were recorded restraining a handcuffed Indigenous child on the floor of a Vancouver hospital – an incident the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs has denounced as "horrendous."