The BC Cancer Agency's Centre for the North – the Agency’s sixth regional centre – will be built in Prince George and will provide better access to cancer care for all northerners. As the BC Cancer Agency’s fundraising arm and as BC’s leading cancer research and care charity, the BC Cancer Foundation will be part of the new centre when it opens in 2012.

The Centre for the North will be located adjacent to the Prince George Regional Hospital (PGRH) and will bring together a team of care providers with an interdisciplinary, patient-centered approach to care.

Supported by colleagues across the province, the team at the BC Cancer Agency Centre for the North will include:

• medical oncology;
• radiation oncology;
• pharmacy;
• psychosocial oncology;
• volunteer services; and
• supportive care.

Each of these elements is essential to provide patients with the various points of care necessary during their cancer experience. This core of professionals will also provide a critical mass to enable basic and clinical research into the causes and treatments for cancer, enhancing related scientific programs and studies at the University of Northern British Columbia.

Currently, a Community Chemotherapy Centre is supported by Northern Health and housed at PGRH, providing chemotherapy services under the direction of a community oncologist and with support from the BC Cancer Agency. With the opening of the new centre, this program will be housed at the BC Cancer Agency, along with a much-anticipated Radiation Therapy Program. Though the new BC Cancer Agency Centre for the North will be an entity separate from PGRH, integration and sharing of services – such as medical imaging, inpatient care, and electronic health records – will be essential for the cancer program to function well.