THE $65 million Albury-Wodonga Regional Cancer Centre has come in on budget despite wet weather playing havoc with the final stages of construction.
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Albury Wodonga Health chief executive Leigh McJames confirmed the cancer centre didn’t run over budget during the official handover from construction firm Hansen Yuncken on Tuesday.
Radiology will be the first service offered at the cancer centre when it opens to patients in September ahead of an official community opening planned for November.
“There are not too many building projects which come in dead on time,” Mr McJames said.
“But it is absolutely on budget.
“Everyone from the actual building manager down has to move in now and get set up.”
The cancer centre will employ 200 staff when fully operational with 17,000 radiotherapy sessions and up to 8000 chemotherapy sessions conducted annually.
Oncologists consult with about 12,000 patients each year.
“It will grow with time, but this lays a foundation,” Mr McJames said.
Ramsay Health and Genesis Care are presently installing and testing equipment including the radiation linear accelerator which is the first equipment of its type installed in a regional cancer centre.
Hansen Yuncken had a peak workforce of almost 300 working on the cancer centre since beginning construction in late 2013.
Hansen Yuncken regional manager Jason Cox said the construction timetable had extended out longer than originally planned.
“The weather hasn’t been kind to us and there has been a few challenges along the way,” he said.
“But that is part of the construction industry and we all deal with those problems.
“The facade has been really difficult and the structure itself has been quite challenging.
“Hansen Yuncken nationally has done a number of cancer centres and we were able to draw on the expertise of the business and use resources out of Sydney and Melbourne.”
