Twelve short years ago, it seemed like an impossible dream. To have a cancer care clinic right here in Nowra, offering radiotherapy as well chemo was a goal for which we would all have to put in the very hard yards.
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And that’s precisely what we did.
On Monday, we saw the culmination of an extraordinary community effort when the second linear accelerator was installed and the final community contribution to the $36 million cancer care centre was handed over.
If ever there was proof there was the need for a local cancer care centre, it was the demand for the first linear accelerator within a few months of its commissioning three years ago. The machine now operates at 90 per cent capacity, treating up to 40 patients a day.
It quickly became apparent a second accelerator was needed.
Once it is operational, expected by the end of October, it will be offered to patients from the Far South Coast. And it will act as a backup should the first accelerator break down.
So, from a need identified in the Shoalhaven for ready access to radiotherapy for local cancer patients and the community campaign that raised more than $1 million, it is not only locals who will benefit but people from much further afield.
It was the vigorous and determined community campaign that caught the eye of the Rudd Labor government, which tipped in the lion’s share of the funds needed to build the centre. When Kevin Rudd visited to make the announcement, he stressed it was the community effort that won the day for the Shoalhaven, which was competing against regions for similar centres.
It was a classic case of people power in action. And it was a success of which the community should be immensely proud.
Since it opened, the centre has had much praise tipped on it. The Register has spoken to many people who have undergone treatment there and the feedback is resoundingly positive.
The cancer treatment experience now contrasts starkly with that available before the centre opened. Before it, some very sick people were forced to travel to Wollongong which, for some, was simply too much to deal with.
Now, of course, that life-saving treatment can be had so much closer to home and family.
Let’s pause to reflect on what we can achieve as a community.