The Maskwa Medical Center broke ground outside the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital on Tuesday.

The centre hopes to change the medical landscape in the region by offering a mayo-style clinic with a 10-day turnaround treatment plan for patients.

“There's only one way you can feel about today, and that's great,” said Ken Drysdale, Maskwa Medical Center board chairman.

“We're just fortunate enough to have the communities that will get behind us and try and drive this first concept through, and I'm sure the rest of the province will adopt it.”

The project – with expected costs around $35.5 million – will be housed in a 100,000-square-foot three-storey building.

Additionally, Maskwa will train doctors via its partnership with Northwestern Polytechnic (NWP) and the University of Alberta (U of A) which will be the main floor tenants.

A specialist clinic will be located on the third floor; the second floor is expected to include a retail area including pharmacy, medical supply store, daycare and restaurant. 

“If you think of today and mark it in your calendar, and then 10 years from now, look back at what this building has done to the north; it will just blow your mind once we get open and start producing doctors out in the communities, start getting the team based specialist clinic operating properly and people out there will find there is hope,” said Drysdale.

“There is hope that ‘I can see somebody and feel better tomorrow.’”

Drysdale hopes to eliminate the long wait times faced by northern Albertans and believes the clinic will improve their health outcomes.

He says the centre will help reduce unnecessary hospital and emergency room visits by having a walk-in clinic with extended hours, reducing the current strain on hospital departments and staff.

Northern communities hear the exact same phrases from doctors, said Drysdale: “If we'd have caught this a couple of years ago, the results would be different.”

He said the medical system should deliver the same level of care across the province. 

County of Grande Prairie Reeve Bob Marshall said Maskwa is more than a building but a “bold step forward.”

He noted 27 per cent of the county’s residents are without a family doctor. 

“That's a reality we simply cannot accept.”

Cost

Drysdale said to date about $20 million has been raised for the innovative centre. 

The centre's development is being funded through community donations and fundraising efforts. 

Drysdale said he logged about 20,000 kilometres across several weeks visiting about 32 communities in northwestern Alberta – as far north as Rainbow Lake - to ensure that everyone knew about the project and what it could mean for the region. 

“You can imagine living in Rainbow Lake and a specialist is at least 10 hours away, so this is going to shorten that trip,” said Drysdale. 

“Our long-term goal is to put satellite offices in High Level and Peace River so those local communities can at least make their first visit virtual with a doctor up there into our clinic and maybe shorten the trip to better health.”

The groundbreaking ceremony this week was attended by dignitaries, municipal councillors, and community members from the many places he visited, Drysdale noted. 

“The most successful health systems in the world are driven by leaders and the communities they live in,” said Drysdale.

A total of $10.5 million has been committed from the City of Grande Prairie, County of Grande Prairie and MD of Greenview ($3.5 million each) to begin construction. Each of those municipalities has created a borrowing bylaw to help the project meet its 2026 deadline. 

“This project is a reflection of what can happen when we work together,” said Marshall.

Previously, each of the three municipalities granted Maskwa $500,000 for the design and engineering of the facility.

Many dignitaries mentioned the need for financial and additional help from the province.

“Continuing provincial support is critical to help finalize the tenancy agreements, secure capital funding and officially recognize the centre as a strategic priority for rural Alberta,” said Marshall.

“It's time for the province to step up,” said MD of Greenview Reeve Tyler Olson, who noted that both Grande Prairie MLA Nolan Dyck and Grande Prairie-Wapiti MLA Ron Wiebe were in attendance. 

“You can see from the crowd and the miles and everything put on, we appreciate your support, but it's time for the province to see it too,” said Olson.

“Maskwa Medical Center is going to be a game changer for our region.”

Training rural doctors

Drysdale said the goal is to have the bottom floor ready for U of A medical students in late 2026 or early 2027.

The U of A residency teaching clinic will be located on the first floor, with about 20 residency students expected to be on site and about 10 new family physicians graduating each year.

The first cohort of 30 medical students will start at NWP’s Health Education Centre in the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital on Aug. 25. 

“They'll be able to complete their full four years of training here in Grande Prairie and surrounding communities, and then they'll go on to residency programs,” said Brenda Hemmelgarn, U of A dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry.

“The focus will be family medicine residency programs, and that's where the teaching clinic really comes into play.

“They'll work closely with family doctors and other medical students, and our vision is to expand it to nursing students and nurse practitioners as well.”

She said the program aims to “recruit students locally, train them locally, and retain them locally.”