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“If you get this early on and you are precise in the treatment, the chances of survival, of eradicating cancer in the body, are immense. So this is
a must-have.”
— Ashif Mawji
The plan is for the Edmonton site to be the first of a series of proton- therapy clinics named after Ben Stelter. After the Edmonton facility is opened, the focus will be on bringing the therapy to Ontario, Quebec and southern Alberta. The Edmonton site should be able to handle 400-450 patients per year.
The Edmonton facility will also double as a “best-in-class” research facility, promises Mawji, with partnerships with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute, the University of Alberta and the University of Pennsylvania, which is the global leader in proton-therapy medicine.
Canadian Gordon Baltzer is the chairman and CEO of WestCan, which is based in Florida, and he’s bullish about the chance to bring this life-saving technology back to his home country. He has been working with NHL Hall of Fame defenceman Denis Potvin, who worked in the Florida Panthers organization before settling into retirement, on the push to bring proton therapy to Canada.
“One of the things I talked to Denis about was that if a project in Canada is going to occur, and it’s going to be effective, sustainable and meet the needs of the community, it’s got to be community-based,” said Baltzer. “I told Denis that you led the Islanders against Gretzky’s Oilers for hockey supremacy in the ‘80s. Why don’t we look at bringing the hockey world together in battling a common foe in cancer?”
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