PARKVILLE COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTRE

On 7 May 2009, the Victorian Premier, The Honourable John Brumby, MP, and the Federal Health and Ageing Minister, The Honourable Nicola Roxon, MP, announced funding for the construction of a $1 billion Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Parkville, Melbourne. Construction will begin in 2011, and be completed in 2015.

THE COLLABORATION
The Parkville Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Parkville CCC) will be used by clinical and research staff from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne Health (the Royal Melbourne Hospital), the University of Melbourne, the Melbourne branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, the Royal Women’s Hospital and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. The six partners have agreed to establish the Parkville CCC as an incorporated joint venture.

THE SITE
The main building will be constructed on the site of the former Royal Dental Hospital (FDH), bordered by Flemington Road, Elizabeth Street and Grattan Street in Parkville. Demolition of the former Dental Hospital is due for completion in late 2010. New facilities will be constructed on the Royal Melbourne Hospital site on the corner of Grattan Street and Royal Parade, with the north and south sides connected by bridges across Grattan Street. The total combined area will be about 93,000 square metres.
For more information about the former Dental Hospital demolition project, please visit www.health.vic.gov.au/parkvilleccc/index.htm

THE FACILITIES
The Parkville CCC will include 194 in-patient beds, 110 same-day treatment places, eight medi-hotel beds, six radiation therapy bunkers, and more than 30,000 square metres of research space capable of accommodating up to 1,400 cancer researchers.

THE VISION
The Parkville CCC will drive leadership and innovation in the fields of cancer treatment, research and education by having the largest concentration of cancer clinicians and researchers in the southern hemisphere, ranking it among the top ten cancer centres in the world.
It will be a centre of excellence that facilitates the rapid translation of ground-breaking discoveries from ‘bench to bedside’, attracting the best and brightest researchers and clinicians, and drawing international investment and research collaborations.

CANCER IN VICTORIA
Cancer is Victoria’s biggest killer and generates a high level of consumer concern. The care of cancer patients represents a significant proportion of all health care delivered in the state. It is a priority both for State and Federal Governments to improve cancer services and advance research in preventing cancer.