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Stuart Olson to oversee expansion

Alberta Health Services has chosen Stuart Olson Constructors to expand the Central Alberta Cancer Centre for $41 million.

Alberta Health Services has chosen Stuart Olson Constructors to expand the Central Alberta Cancer Centre for $41 million.

The renovations will allow radiation patients in Central Alberta to get treatment locally. Currently, radiation patients in Central Alberta must travel to either the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary or the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton.

The Central Alberta Cancer Centre first opened in November 1982, moving to its present location in the southwest corner of the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre in 2005. The 887-square metre facility currently has 10 treatment chairs, five treatment beds, four examination rooms, a procedure room, a quiet room, as well as offices, a reception and health records area.

The Central Alberta Cancer Centre serves a population of close to 300,000 people around Central Alberta, offering assessments and examinations, chemotherapy, pain management and other services.

The project will mean an additional 3,230-square metres of clinical space for radiation therapy services, an additional 580-square metres for three new radiation therapy vaults and renovation of the existing Central Alberta Cancer Centre.

The renovations are part of a plan to allow around 80 per cent of patients to receive radiation treatment in Red Deer, Lethbridge or Grande Prairie.

Stuart Olson Constructors, which is a subsidiary of Churchill Corporation, will partner with HFKS Architects to build the LEED Silver project, which is expected to break ground this December. Construction is expected to wrap up in Nov. 2011.

Stuart Olson Constructors has worked on many local projects, among them is the current emergency room and critical care area at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre and the company was the construction manager of the civic yards relocation project in Red Deer.

— With files from The Canadian Press