Province to invite Calgary cancer centre construction bids this month

The province is getting ready to select a builder for the new cancer centre slated to be built adjacent to the Foothills hospital in northwest Calgary.

At an open house on Wednesday, officials announced that a request for proposals will be issued later this month for the 160-inpatient bed facility.

The cancer centre will feature 12 new radiation vaults, a clinical trials unit, research laboratories, outpatient cancer clinics, and three "shelled spaces" intended for future growth, the province says.

"Starting at the end of this month, qualified bidders will be asked to put in a proposal that will include the design and construction plans for the centre," saidBrandy Payne, the associate minister of health.

"One of the really great things about the centre is we're going to be bringing together all of the cancer treatments under one roof, which will make it a lot easier for patients to have one place that they're familiar with to receive all the treatments that they need."

The province plans to announce the successful bidder for the project by the middle of 2017, begin construction later that year and have it open by 2024.

The Calgary Cancer Centre, which will replace the aging Tom Baker Cancer Centre, will be built on Lot 7 of the Foothills hospital campus, near the intersection of16thAvenue and29thStreet N.W.

Last fall, the province earmarked $830 million for the project. But the final cost will be tallied when the project is tendered.

The bone marrow transplant unit at the Foothills Medical Centre will also be renovated to improve infection prevention and control and patient care, the province says.

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