John M. Huntsman Sr. announced March 5 that he plans to double the size of the Huntsman Cancer Institute. There could not be a more warranted and welcome expansion on this campus.

Twice the amount of patients will be able to have their medical needs addressed thanks to the new expansion, which is slated for completion in 2010.

Although the HCI is something important to our campus, it is even more important for a community coping with a frightening disease. Cancer patients need a place like the HCI. The HCI, which is part of the 21-hospital National Comprehensive Cancer Network, is renowned for its comfortable facilities, patient care and, most importantly, its specialists.

The HCI, which houses the world’s largest genetic database, is the premiere hospital in the Intermountain West where people can be treated by the best specialists in the field. Being able to open the door to more patients was vital to the continued success of the institute. The ability to treat more patients will likely draw more treatment specialists as well as open up more jobs for people in this community.

“A job well done,” has to go to Huntsman. Without his experience with the disease and his philanthropic nature, people in need of the types of treatment available at HCI would be forced to seek treatment elsewhere.

A big kudos should also go to the Utah State Legislature for approving the bonds needed for construction. They saw the genuine need for cancer treatment in the Intermountain West and realized that an expansion of the HCI would benefit countless people.

Everything that this expansion represents is highly positive. No one could have asked for a better way for money to be spent at the U than helping the people who need it most.