Six months in, Calgary’s new cancer centre is making life-altering differences​on April 23, 2025 at 11:30 am

But if the benefits prove significant, the four- to six-week waiting times for conventional immune cell treatment and a half million dollars per session could be substantially reduced, said Lee.

“We are treating multiple patients from one (healthy) individual.”

The researcher who arrived in Calgary from Toronto nearly two years ago said his project’s partnership with the University of Calgary’s Department of Kinesiology is as unique as the research subject itself.

“Calgary has such a nice ecosystem of collaboration that it’s allowing us to begin a new research field,” said Lee, adding the study will be carried out both on the U of C campus and at the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

It’s just one example, he said of a positive research setting nurtured by the presence of the new cancer centre and funding that’s accompanied it.

“I can confidently say the cancer centre is proving to have one of the best infrastructures and environments to make cutting edge discoveries.”

Among those are suicide, self-harm, extreme pain or severe reactions to treatment and care for those suffering from forms of cancer that are particularly aggressive and carry heavy mental and physical burdens.

“It’s a very visible cancer type, one that affects the face, mouth, tongue and if you have surgery, it can be disfiguring or lead to a breathing or feeding tube,” said Fu.

“It has one of the highest rates of suicide and self-harm … they really have a very, very hard life.”

It often presents itself at a more advanced stage of development and usually requires more than one type of treatment simultaneously which compounds patient suffering, she said.

In Toronto, Fu helped develop a similar early warning system based on patient information — a calculation method — that provided an early warning for when cancer patients would require emergency care.

Her work in Calgary aims to expand on that, supplying physicians with an early risk warning for a host of critical events that could occur 14 days after a doctor’s analysis.

“That computational oncologist specializing in using large amounts of data can make better predictions and how you’ll respond (to treatment),” said Chan.

“I’m super excited about this.”

Some observers in the United States say President Donald Trump’s hostility toward academia and research is causing a brain drain that’s benefiting Canada.

Chan said. “Anecdotally, my impression is there has been an uptick in inquiries for researchers interested in relocation (from the U.S.)” but that hard data is lacking.

Due to the complex process of creating new positions and selecting candidates, results from a U.S. exodus wouldn’t likely be felt for up to a year, she said.

“If we had opportunities for vacant positions now, it would be a great time for recruitment,” said Chan.

Iqra Rahamatullah’s fondest wish is leaving the need for cancer treatment behind.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been in a position to we’ve got the resources to support the load, but it’s just tighter now.”

Factors in that squeeze are rapid population growth, the increasing complexity of patient needs and their longer lifespans, said Morris.

While he’s optimistic those staffing constraints will be overcome, he said it’s not a simple task with neighbouring provinces vying for health care workers.

One program that couldn’t be wedged into the old Tom Baker Cancer Centre but is paying dividends in streamlining care at the Arthur Child Cancer Centre is the acute assessment unit, said Morris.

The unit, staffed by a medical oncologist and nurse practitioner, provides patient diagnosis that normally would have only been available at hospital emergency departments, he said.

“Patients with problems can be addressed earlier and perhaps avoid an emergency referral,” he said.

“It’s really starting to grow quite nicely.”

A concept that originated from patient input being eyed to free up beds is a short stay unit that would provide care for a maximum of a day, determine needed treatment, thus avoiding hospital admission, said Morris.

The Calgary mother of two was diagnosed in 2019 with metastatic breast cancer, an advanced form of the disease that has spread beyond the breast to other places in the body. With this Stage 4 diagnosis, Lui continues active treatment to manage the disease. She visits the centre every three weeks for targeted therapy and also volunteers weekly to support other patients.

“It’s a beautiful centre, it serves cancer patients really well,” said Lui. “The fact that there’s so much space … quiet space. There’s areas people can just sit and wait for their family or friends who are getting treatments. It’s very nice.”

She says the Arthur Child centre is a major improvement over its predecessor. Having received care for several years, she describes the previous Tom Baker Cancer Centre as overcrowded and confined, with many services crammed onto a single floor.

“It’s very spacious compared to Tom Baker,” she said. “I know that Tom Baker was really running short on space. So the move was a positive thing for everybody.

Receveur, 57, was diagnosed with colon cancer last May and underwent emergency surgery at the Foothills Medical Centre, followed by six rounds of chemotherapy conducted at the Tom Baker, that’s now being repurposed near the new Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

His final two chemotherapy sessions was transferred to the new centre after it was opened last October and during those times he recalled emotionally celebrating with those who struck the gong, whose vibrating tones ascended the building’s dozen floors.

“It was an inspiration, I thought that was fantastic,” said Receveur.

Following two more chemotherapy sessions at the new cancer centre, it was becoming apparent to Receveur that he was getting the best of his disease but wanted to be certain before striking a few celebratory chords.

“I didn’t want to do it when I was done my chemo, I wanted to talk to my oncologist to get the all-clear,” said the Calgary social worker.

Once that came, Receveur made his way last month with wife Faith and four sons to the centre’s courtyard and the gong, which is protected from the elements by a wooden shelter.

Calgarian Barry Flavelle says he wasn’t rattled when he climbed into a lead-sheathed chamber to be the first user of an advanced imagery-radiation therapy at the city’s new cancer centre.

“There’s a lot of lead in those walls, that door looks like a vault when you go in there,” said Flavelle, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer late last year.

“If you’re a staffer, you don’t want to spend a lot of time in there. I’m a physicist, so I know.”

Well before that first treatment at the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre on April 8, the 78-year-old said he’d been weighing his treatment options.

But about three months ago, he was contacted by a physician who offered the choice of scanning and treatment sessions with the new MR Linac, a machine capable of extraordinary precision imagery and treatment, both done during the same 1.5 hour session.

“I jumped at the opportunity,” said Flavelle. “The other treatment was going to be a five or six-month wait.”

“(Radiation) can do a lot of damage around the prostate, to the bladder and urinary tract — a lot of side effects,” he said. “I haven’t seen any so far … we’ll have to see how it goes.”

Battling a chronic form of leukemia while witnessing the challenges of staff and patients at the crowded Tom Baker Cancer Centre convinced John Osler something more was needed.

Osler, who was diagnosed in 2007, became a crusader for a new, stand-alone facility catering to cancer patients. At times, there were frustrations over what he deems proposed half-measures to address the problem, including the idea of rolling a new centre into what would become today’s South Health Campus.

But even when the lobbying efforts of his group — Concerned Citizens for the Calgary Cancer Centre — bore fruit years later with construction starting on the $1.4 billion Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Osler decided his job wasn’t yet done.

In October 2021, the Own.Cancer fundraiser kicked off with the goal of raising $250 million to fulfill the potential of the new facility which opened three years later.

When it did open, $298 million had been raised.

“It was supposed to take five years but we did it in three,” said Osler.

“When it’s cancer, you have a little bit of a built-in advantage because it affects everyone (although) there were times when I didn’t think we’d accomplish it.”

The money raised is being spent on further research, care, treatment, outcomes and improving the lives of those living with cancer, he said.

“We really believed it could be a centre of excellence for research and care and outcomes, and that’s clearly the result and that’s going to continue,” said Osler.

When he first began attending the Tom Baker Cancer Centre 18 years ago, the Calgary lawyer said the 1981-vintage facility was already over capacity.

“Nothing can get you more motivated than treatment,” he said.

He recalls the frustrations of delays in building its replacement — a timeline often coloured by the province’s fiscal fortunes, dictated by the energy industry’s booms and busts.

When a three-year delay was announced in 2015, Osler took a diplomatic approach, saying he was a bit disappointed but still pleased the then-NDP government had earmarked the necessary dollars to build the facility.

“My preference would be to see them start building right away,” Osler said at the time, “but the economic challenges were tougher than they were under the PCs (Progressive Conservatives.)”

In May 2017 when construction of the building was set to begin later that year, Osler was guardedly optimistic.

“The message (from us) is, ‘great, but we’re watching you,” he said that year.

Fast forward nearly eight years and Osler, who co-chaired the Own.Cancer effort with Heather Culbert and Chamber of Commerce President Deborah Yedlin said he takes profound satisfaction in how the building blocks have fallen into place.

“Every time I drive past it, I look at that and see a shining example of what can be achieved by like-minded and motivated people,” he said. “It’s truly become a beacon of hope.”

While the main fundraising effort ended last October, Own.Cancer co-chair Culbert said the nature of cancer and the massive response it demands mean that task is never at an end.

“There’ll be ever-evolving needs but (we’ve covered) the basic requirement and fundamentals,” she said. However, “it’s never over.

“(AHS) is making good progress; we’ve given them a really good attractant for professionals for the research component and care.”

Among the 17,000 donors, many of them were touched by cancer and knew the worth of a superior treatment and research hub, said Culbert.

“Calgarians are very visionary and philanthropic,” she added.

Philanthropists Stan and Marge Owerko, for example, gave a monumental gift of $30 million to the centre.

“Cancer is a frightening disease and a diagnosis at any age is a crushing blow to the whole family” the Owerkos said last year when their donation was announced. “The Arthur Child is poised to change lives by bringing together the very best researchers, clinicians and practices in cancer care to help patients and families during one of the most difficult times of their lives.

“It’s an honour to support their extraordinary work and our hope is that the discoveries made at this inspiring centre will benefit all cancer patients — not only here in Alberta — but around the world,” the couple said.

The cancer centre also received a $50 million donation from the Arthur J.E. Child Foundation, leading to the cancer centre’s name. Child (1910-1996) was a British-Canadian businessman who came to Calgary (from Toronto and then Saskatoon) in 1966, becoming president of Burns Foods. When the company went private in 1978, he owned a quarter of it. The company was eventually sold, but he and a partner later bought back four Burns divisions and started a new business, leading to the wealth he left to his foundation.

Osler admits he doesn’t always just drive past the cancer centre; he stops in every three months for monitoring to ensure his own health is holding up.

The difference between his old treatment destination and the new, he said, is remarkable.

“It’s phenomenal. It’s bright inside, it’s big, it’s modern,” he said.

A major point of pride, he said, is the Own.Cancer’s contribution in funding the new MR Linac machine that provides significantly superior tumour imaging.

“It’s the sort of stuff that will save lives,” said Osler.

Even after just six months in operation, the cancer centre and its research spinoffs are making a significant impact in the Calgary community and throughout the country, said Culbert, who’d spent 14 years lobbying and fundraising for the new centre.

“We should have built it a long time ago; we shouldn’t have to wait for desperate times,” she said.

“But it’s been a labour of love.”