Ground is broken today at 1 p.m. on Alward Street for the construction of Kordyban Lodge.
The lodge is a major component in the cancer control strategy for northern B.C., as a companion building to the BC Cancer Agency Centre for the North now underway across the street.
Both buildings are in the shadow of University Hospital of Northern B.C.
"The lodge will provide accommodation for individuals and their caregivers travelling to Prince George for treatment," said a written statement Thursday from the Canadian Cancer Society.
"Two of every five of us will be diagnosed with cancer at some time in our lives. With an aging population, the number of cases is projected to increase by 60 per cent over the next 20 years. In B.C. alone, more than 21,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year. More than 1,000 of those reside in northern B.C."
Expected today at the groundbreaking are provincial government ministers Shirley Bond and Pat Bell, Canadian Cancer Society (BC and Yukon) CEO Barbara Kaminsky and local board chair Lorraine Grant, Mary Kordyban who has been a driving force in the financial securing of the lodge, and a former resident of a similar lodge in another location.
