HUNTINGDON– Huntingdon County residents may no longer have to travel far to seek cancer treatment.

J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital is adding a cancer treatment program in the new year.

Some staff members at the hospital said they've been waiting over 25 years for this program.

"I just think it's exciting," director of nursing Joye Gingruch said.

"I'm really excited, very excited," director of medical patients Linda Gibbs said.

"We continue to look at what specialist, what services that the community needs and this has been on our radar for a few years,” hospital CEO Adam Dimm said. “We just weren't able to start working on it until now."

Over the last three years, hospital officials said, they've been making major upgrades and restoring services.

"This cancer program is a nice next step,” Dimm said. “It's another service that we can provide to the community and we're really looking forward to it."

"They don't have to travel and, when you're going through cancer treatment, you're tired. You don't feel well and we hate to see our patients travel,” Gingrich said.

Patients will now be able to receive most of their cancer care -- specifically, chemotherapy -- at the hospital.

"We've known for a long time that there's a need in the community," Gibbs said.

She said cancer affects so many different lives and that the community is more than ready for this big step.

"This is my passion,” Gibbs said. “We've wanted to be able to provide that care and we've wanted to be doing it for a long time."

The hospital said it has already started to recruit the staff needed for the cancer treatment program. Training of the staff will start in January. The hospital hopes to start the treatment program in the summer of 2018.

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