Life is about to get a little less tough for Northland cancer patients - with the opening of a new treatment centre in Whangarei.
Health Minister Jonathan Coleman opened the centre in Maunu Road today, after two years of fund-raising in the north met more than half the $5 million cost.
Manager of the Cancer Society for the region, Margaret Curry, said the new facility would give patients space, comfort and privacy, and fewer would need to go to Auckland for chemotherapy.
She said it had already improved services, with Northland Health recruiting two oncologists.
The centre was named for the late Jim Carney, a Whangarei businessman and philanthropist whose family made a significant donation towards it.