‘A FUTURE WITHOUT CANCER’: Smith cuts ribbon at new Calgary cancer center

Premier Danielle Smith and Health Minister Adriana LaGrange hope a new, world-class cancer center opening in Calgary this month could one day find a cure for the disease. Smith and LaGrange were joined at a press conference prior to the opening of the Arthur JE Child Comprehensive Cancer Center Thursday morning by Minister of Infrastructure Pete Guthrie, Sandy Edmonstone from AHS, Brenda Hubley from Cancer Care Alberta and Charlotte Kessler, the facility’s patient adviser, who is a brain cancer survivor. .With 127,000 square ms and 160 inpatient beds, the facility will be a hub for both treatment and research, offering a wide range of healthcare for cancer patients and 9,200 square ms reserved for research initiatives..“About half of Albertans will develop cancer in their lifetime, with more than 23,300 new cancer cases expected this year,” said Smith at the press conference. “Every life lost to cancer is one too many. For those living with cancer and the family and friends who care for them, the opening of the Arthur Child is a move forward and a point of hope. This center will not only provide needed cancer care as a world-class research facility, it will also focus on prevention and early detection that we hope will one day lead to a future without cancer.”“The Arthur Child will bring something intangible: hope,” said LaGrange.“Hope for the patients who will soon receive treatment, hope for ground-breaking research that will make a real difference, hope for clinical trials, hope for more personalized support and hope for a future without cancer. .The Alberta government contributed $1.4 billion in funding to the state-of-the-art facility, and $250 million was raised by the Alberta Cancer Foundation, the University of Calgary and AHS through the OWN.CANCER campaign.The new facility, which will be open to patients October 28, will improve wait times for patients receiving cancer treatments, LaGrange’s press secretary Jessi Rampton confirmed to the Western Standard.“(It) will increase cancer care capacity in southern Alberta by consolidating and expanding services to support integrated and comprehensive care,” explained Rampton, adding the facility has been “designed to accommodate growth.” .The center will include access to cancer care research, screening, prevention and patient-centered treatment. Kessler, co-chair of the Arthur Child project, told her story battling and overcoming brain cancer as a young mother and shared her husband has recently been diagnosed with cancer.In 2014, Kessler got involved in the project. “I was on my brain cancer journey, and needed to find some positivity in all the challenges my young family and I were experiencing,” said Kessler. “Now, a decade later, I am standing here with you, about to cut this ribbon.”“I am forever changed, forever grateful for these experiences — these people, this center. I take pride in knowing the remarkable care, supports and especially the revolutionary research this center will provide for patients and their families will improve lives for so many, including my own husband, and our own family’s, as we make our way through his cancer journey.” .The building was named after the late Arthur JE Child, former majority shareholder and CEO of Burns Foods in Calgary, who was “known for his financial acumen and personal philanthropy,” Rampton told the Western Standard.A foundation was started in his name after his death in 1996, created to “receive the majority of his estate to continue his generosity beyond Mr. Child’s lifetime.”“Arthur JE Child Foundation made a $50 million donation to the Calgary Cancer Center, officially naming the building the Arthur JE Child Comprehensive Cancer Center.”The facility includes 100 patient exam rooms, more than 90 chemotherapy chairs, increased space for clinical trials, 12 radiation vaults with three more in the works and outpatient cancer clinics. .According to the Government of Alberta, breast, prostate, lung and colorectal are the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the province, accounting for 49% of new cases and 47% of cancer deaths.LaGrange said Calgary’s former cancer center, the Tom Baker Cancer Center, is “going to have a facelift because there’s going to be a cyclotron,” which is a particle accelerator used in cancer diagnosis and treatment. “That space will be repurposed and used, and the new radiopharmaceutical center will be built adjacent to that space. So, it will not go vacant,” added Hubley.