CALGARY – Alberta Health Minister Sarah Hoffman is scheduled to make an announcement Wednesday about the future of the Calgary cancer centre.
A press conference has been scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at the Foothills Medical Centre, the original site of a proposed comprehensive one-stop cancer centre that would provide much-needed space for both treatment and research.
On Monday, advocates for the Calgary cancer centre met with the health minister. John Osler, of Concerned Citizens for the Calgary centre, said he left the meeting hopeful the province would make the right decision.
“My impression is that they favour the Foothills site, and understand that the Foothills site has always been identified, not as the best site but as the only site for all the reasons we’ve been discussing for these many months,” he said.
“I don’t know where a new facility will be, but Foothills is at the top of the list.”
READ MORE: Calgary group launches petition demanding one-stop cancer hospital
Two years ago, Alison Redford’s PC government announced a $1.3 billion, one-stop cancer hospital to replace the aging and overcrowded Tom Baker Centre at the Foothills Hospital.
In December, former health minister Stephen Mandel told Global News the province could no longer afford the facility, because of falling oil prices but in March, then-premier Jim Prentice replaced it with a plan for a smaller, cheaper version situated at South Health Campus.
During the election campaign, Notley criticized that move, and promised to build the hospital at Foothills Hospital on schedule.
“We should be investing in moving forward the construction and completion of that hospital as originally promised,” Notley said April 16 in the Calgary community of Hillhurst.
The day after her win, Premier-elect Notley wouldn’t specify plans.
The province already spent $20 million selecting and scoping a comprehensive hospital that would provide world-class outcomes for cancer patients in southern Alberta by allowing doctors, researchers and educators to work side-by-side.
READ MORE: Patients press Notley for campaign promise of one-stop cancer hospital
With files from Mia Sosiak
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