GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) — This year, the American Cancer Society estimates, more than 4,000 women in Colorado will be diagnosed with breast cancer.

For years, women on the Western Slope were left to travel to the Front Range, Utah, or even further for appointments. Breast cancer awareness month isn’t until October, but that didn’t stop Community Hospital from celebrating a new cancer center.

In 2012, the hospital broke ground at the future site of Community Hospital, now eight years later the campus is expanding,” Whenever we are treating cancer, time is of the essence and we want to get things treated as quickly as possible,” Dr. Jonathan Frandsen said.

Cancer care is a team effort, involving dedicated staff and the trust patients have in the treatment, “Just been a steady progress, we’ve continued to grow and it’s the accumulation of a lot of hard work by a lot of people,” Chris Thomas President of Community Hospital said.

Construction of Community Hospital’s new medical building, the James Pulsipher Regional Cancer center will be complete in 2023, “We believe that there’s going to be about 800 jobs created during this project and we will have about 100 jobs once it is completed,” Thomas said.

On top of providing local jobs, the new cancer center relieves travel costs for patients, “The feedback I get from women that are diagnosed with breast cancer routinely, is that the diagnosis process can be very frustrating,” Dr. Frandsen said.

It can be very scary for somebody to go through that process, “We have formed a special clinic inside the hospital that allows women either with an abnormal lump in their breast or with an abnormal exam, they can come in and be diagnosed efficiently and quickly,” Dr. Frandsen said.

A new clinic that couldn’t be possible without a generous donation of more than $50,000 from Grand Junction’s, Junior Service League, “Our entire mission is to give back to the community that we love and love to serve,” Stephanie Plieness, Junior Service League says.

As the community continues to grow, so does the need for reliable and efficient treatment.