Nanaimo cancer centre construction to begin next year [Video]

Construction workers are poised to start building a BC Cancer centre in Nanaimo in 2025 – bringing access to critical treatment services closer to home for thousands of people on Vancouver Island.

Nearly one year after announcing the $289-million health-care facility, B.C.’s NDP government says a business plan has been approved.

“Typically on a project of this size, in the hundreds of millions of dollars, that takes 18-24 months. It’s been completed in 11, which demonstrates I think the priority we have here,” says Health Minister Adrian Dix.

The three-storey centre is being built at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital next to the ambulatory care building. The province says the procurement process is underway.

“It will house a CT simulator, a PET/CT diagnostic scanner and an oncology ambulatory care unit with 12 exam rooms, four consult rooms, and space for medical physicists and radiation therapists,” says Dix.

The building is expected …