Cancer centre opening up in the air

The BC Cancer Centre for the North will open soon, but provincial officials aren't quite sure how soon.

The project is still considered on time and within its $69.9 million budget, but provincial officials aren't willing to set a specific opening date despite the fact construction is still expected to be completed by September.

A spokeswoman for the Provincial Health Services Authority said the plan is to have the facility open by "late 2012," but added that it was still too soon to nail down a firm opening date.

The centre will house two linear accelerators, which are used in the delivery of radiation therapy, as well as a computerized tomography simulator and a chemotherapy treatment unit.

Steve Raper, a spokesman for Northern Health, said it's been thrilling to see the construction progress and he said his organization is looking forward to having the centre open for patients.

"We're optimistic we'll have the staffing complement we need and the program will be an incredible addition in terms of the cancer services available to the residents of Northern BC," he said.

The main construction is already complete and work is being done on the interior. Once the rest of the work is complete over the next two months, there will also have to be time set aside for testing equipment and training staff before the facility can be officially up and running.

The centre lost its chief oncologist last month when Dr. Suresh Katakkar resigned after the BC Cancer Agency launched an investigation into his practices. A new oncologist will be hired, but it's not known how long that process will take. The departure of Katakkar hasn't had any impact on the opening date, according to the provincial cancer agency.