The Valley Cancer Medical Center is nearly completed and will open Friday, Feb. 22, after 18 months of construction in the 1100 block of Norman Drive just west of Spreckels Avenue.

Dr. Amarjit Dhaliwal made the announcement late Thursday afternoon for the two-story structure located near the Doctors Hospital of Manteca Imaging Center.  The celebration of its opening is to be guided by the Manteca Chamber of Commerce and will include finger foods and beverages.

The roughly $17 million addition to the Manteca medical community will include offices for Dhaliwal and for Dr. Robert Levy, M.D., of Modesto.  Both oncologists will continue to see patients at their Modesto offices as well.

Dhaliwal said the completion of the cancer center has been the realization of a longtime dream to make a difference in the community for cancer patients.  The cost of the cancer facility has nearly doubled the initial estimate of $8 million.

A double set of staircases and an elevator provide access to the second floor that will be used for future expansion and the potential offices devoted to Hospice Care and a pharmacy dedicated to the unique needs of cancer patients.

. Dhaliwal noted that his center will not duplicate the radiology offered at the new Manteca Imaging Center neighboring his facility.   The PET and CT scans offered at the Imaging Center are at a molecular level with different methodologies than at the Cancer Center, he said.

A third new medical building on the campus is hoped to become a surgery center sometime in the future.

The ground floor of the 32,000-square-foot Cancer Center houses numerous offices and exam rooms along with a 15-by-30-foot medical conference room for treatment consultations.

To the east of the Cancer Center are numerous existing medical offices in one and two story buildings that draw a constant flow of patients through their doors.  A medical lab is also available to the public nestled between doctors’ offices.