Windsor Regional Hospital can't wait for a new cancer centre because its "bursting at the seams".
A new cancer centre is planned for the new acute care hospital near the Windsor Airport but hospital officials want to make it clear that the current facility is already outdated. They said the current facility at the Met Campus is overcrowded and doesn't meet current and future needs.
Monica Staley-Liang, regional vice president of cancer services, said the cancer centre is seeing higher volumes of cancer patients who need more complex treatment.
Staley-Liang said they need a new machine for radiation therapy but have no space to accommodate it.
"We have to look at a bunker outside to place that machine because there is no place internally," said Staley-Liang.
Staley-Lieng said the current cancer centre is inconvenient for patients and staff.
"It's already becoming a pressure point of how we're going to serve our volumes," she added.
Staley-Lieng said patient needs are growing and the new cancer centre must be designed to meet them well into the future.
"As we grow and more research happens, it's chronic disease management and we have to learn and support the patients to get the care they require," Staley-Liang said.
The new hospital is still six to nine years away.
