THUNDER BAY -- The opening of the long-awaited cyclotron is coming with a challenge to the community.
On Tuesday the Paterson Foundation announced it will match every dollar, up to $500,000, raised in the community until April 26 for the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre's Exceptional Cancer Care campaign.
"People have to get in early. They have to donate and get onboard," foundation president Don Paterson said.
"More and more people are realizing we have a great facility here. If people are willing to get onboard we can really really do something for the community."
That facility is getting an upgrade as the cyclotron, which will allow the hospital to create its own medical isotopes currently being brought in from Chalk River, is expected to go online next month. Cyclotron operations director Mike Campbell said he's been working on the project since 2008. He showed off the facility, which he'll do again during public tours next month, saying it was an exciting day to see the whole project come together.
Eventually the project will be self-sustaining with any profits going back into patient care at the hospital. But it wouldn't have been completed without support from donations and the provincial and federal governments.
"I can't say enough about the support that we've received through the community," he said. "It's been fantastic."
