Alberta budget 2015: Calgary cancer centre delayed until 2024

Calgary is going to have to wait longer for its cancer treatment centre, the NDP government has announcedin its first budget.

The previous Progressive Conservativegovernment had planned to replace the ageing Tom Baker Cancer Centre with new facilities spread out across several different hospitals, but that plan drew fire frompatients.

• Calgary cancer centre to be built at Foothills: health minister
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In July, the new NDP government pledged to build a single new centre at the existing Foothills Hospital site.

It hoped to maintain theoriginal timeline, which called for construction to beginin 2015 or 2016 and to be completed by 2020.

However, the governmentsaid Tuesday that the opening of thecentre is now delayed until 2024.

The final cost of the project, which was initially budgeted at$830 million over five years,will be tallied when the project is tendered.

At least one Calgary physician found some good news in the announcement.

Dr. DavidSwanntold CBC News he felt"tremendous relief and a real sense that this is actually, finally, going to take the huge pressure and the dissatisfaction and the morale loss that has pervaded a lot of the cancer care in Calgary."