After nearly a year of construction, renovations at the Barrhead Community Cancer Centre are complete.
Estimated at $1.5 million, the new facility is four times the size of the former space. Site manager Lois Burletoff said she was pleased to be able to attend the grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 15, adding the renovations were worth the effort.
The ceremony was also attended by representatives of Alberta Health Services (AHS), as well as Barrhead mayor Gerry St. Pierre.
Coun. Bill Lane, attended on behalf of the County of Barrhead.
“On behalf of the County of Barrhead, to see this facility renovated, bright, open and airy, it is very exciting and we’re thankful for all of the hard work and effort that went into it,” Lane said.
St. Pierre agreed with his county counterparts, adding the service provided by the staff, with the level of care and compassion necessary whenever a person is stricken with such a tragic disease, deserves recognition and applause.
“Thank you on behalf of our community,” St. Pierre said, directing his words to the assembled staff members, doctors and AHS representatives.
“It is very important to us to provide the best patient care possible and we are excited to have this new space for our patients,” Burletoff said, adding the new facility is more private and better designed.
“We know it is not easy for the families of cancer patients who come here for treatment and our new space includes several additions to make it more comfortable. We’ve added more open space, access to the courtyard and a tea-and-coffee station to ensure their time here is better,” she said.
Janice Stefanik, director of cancer teams for central, north and community, agreed with Burletoff, adding the original facility built in 1997 was much smaller.
“I’ve been around here for a long, long time and I can remember when Dr. Tony Fields sat down with the team here in Barrhead, the community and the administrators to begin planning for the eventuality of a new facility,” Stefanik said, adding the importance of bringing cancer treatment and related services to patients closer to home has not changed.
“Over the years, the centre has flourished and we had been planning a big opening of a new centre for quite some time. The new facility is very beautiful and a lot of hard work went into it, from the staff to the administration, the cancer foundation and everyone else involved, and it is very exciting to see it all come together finally,” she said.
Shelley Pusch, AHS Zone Officer for the North Zone, agreed with Stefanik and Burletoff, adding she too has been around for a number of years and has had the opportunity to see the various stages of change.
“Even with the space we were in before, we have always striven to provide the best level of care and we’re really thankful to the staff and families who contributed to improving those spaces in the ways that they could,” Pusch said.
Somewhat limited by the actual infrastructure, Pusch said, to see what has been accomplished with the renovations is incredible.
“We know it isn’t an easy journey to go through cancer treatment and be part of that with your family, but these improvements will make those experiences better,” she said, adding patient care is the focus of AHS and having bright, open spaces the renovations now afford the facility is part of what makes the experience better.
“We are committed to ongoing investment in health care in Barrhead, of which, this is one of the examples of what we have been able to accomplish with our more than 200 projects currently on the table,” Pusch added.
Barrhead Healthcare Centre physician Kent Bernes, a member of the cancer treatment team, said the renovations are a real improvement from what he described as ‘really a broom closet’ with regards to the former facility.
“Our goal within the team is to have patient-centered care and this new facility allows us to do that,” Bernes said, adding patients no longer have to sit in the hallways.
“It has made a tremendous difference,” he added.
Bernes, like many of his co-workers at the Cancer Centre, hopes units such as the newly opened one in Barrhead will become obsolete one day.
“The goal is to ultimately close this centre because we have beaten the disease,” he said, adding in the meantime the new facility will serve nicely.
