Premier Christy Clark and Dr. Mathew Follwell examine radiation therapy image -photo250NEWS

Click on  photo for  video of ribbon cutting

Prince George, B.C.- It is a day of celebration, but those  on hand to mark this special day fought back tears.

This morning,  Premier Christy Clark  officially opened the Northern B.C.Cancer Centre, a project that has been in the works since 2005 When Dr.Charles Jago  and Jeff Burghardt were given the task to  study the feasibility of such a centre.

Clark’s eyes  filled with tears as she  told the story of how she was able to  look after her  mother who was suffering with brain cancer,and now, families in Prince George and the north, will be able to  do the same for their loved ones because they won’t have to travel so far.

The study was brought about by Dr.Michelle Suter who had met with local MLAs Pat Bell and Shirley Bond to press for such a centre because she was doing  a larger than expected number of mastectomies.  She says many women were opting for the  surgery rather than  have to travel to the lower mainland for the less invasive treatments.

Now, Prince George has two  linear accelerators  to provide the radiation therapy once only available in  the lower  mainland.  Each radiation therapy room bears a  name of one of the  two rivers which wind through Prince George.  Room #1is the "Fraser" while room #2 is the Nechako.

Built on time and, under budget, the centre is  expected  to see its first patients later this week.