Health Minister and Bay of Plenty MP Tony Ryall was up extra early today to help bless the site of Tauranga's new radiotherapy centre.
Mr Ryall joined Bay of Plenty District Health Board chair Sally Webb at the Kathleen Kilgour Centre on 20th Ave.
Centre managing director Mark Fraundorfer said the building was still in construction on the third floor, but their first patients were due tomorrow so the decision was made last minute to turn today's blessing of the building into an official opening.
"The Minister of Health was due to open it on December 6 but I thought last night and decided with senior management that Tony Ryall is the Minister until the end of the elections when he is retiring and this is when we are actually opening the building for service, so we said at the last minute that this will be an opening ceremony as well."
The world-class facility will provide radiation treatment that includes external beam therapy, high dose rate brachytherapy and superficial treatment for skin cancers and skin conditions. We will also provide our patients with access to a wide range of support services to optimise treatment outcomes.
Key milestones of the build include completion of Level 1 of the facility and delivery of a CT scanner mid-July, completion of Level 3 in late August, and completion of all remaining construction activities this month.
