The opening of a long-awaited cancer treatment clinic in Albany has been delayed again.
The $13-million radiation clinic has been in the works since 2017 and was originally set to be operational early this year.
Building supply chains issues and labour shortages have been blamed for the delay.
A spokesperson for West Australian Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson told ABC Great Southern construction of the oncology clinic is due for completion in early 2023 and that it will begin operating soon after that.
Cancer patients in the region requiring radiation therapy must travel more than four hours by road to either Bunbury or Perth for treatment.
Federal and state governments committed funding to the project after campaigner Mary Williams launch a push for a clinic mid-last decade.
'Our people are desperate'
Ms Williams says the additional delay is not good enough.
"Our people are desperate for this oncology unit to be up and running as promised," she said.
Ms Williams said confirmation and a specific opening date were needed.
"Eleven weeks [to January] is a long time for our patients," she said.
"They're still having to get on this tedious road, this ridiculous nonsense of travelling to Perth."
In 2019 then-health minister Roger Cook said the unit was expected to be completed and operational by early 2022, but the date was pushed back on several occasions.
Ms Williams said she understood the difficulties of keeping the project on track, but people needed the unit to be ready.
"They are absolutely exhausted," she said.
"And I'm exhausted for them."
