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.”

Lead was found in the HVAC system of the Grande Prairie Provincial Building, which has led to the temporary relocation of the Grande Prairie Public Health Clinic to the Queen Elizabeth II (QEII) Ambulatory Care Centre.

Alberta Health Services (AHS) said the clinic was temporarily closed on April 30 “due to indoor air quality issues.”

“During work related to HVAC upgrades at the Grande Prairie Provincial Building, it was determined that there was lead paint on select components of the items being upgraded, and levels of lead in dust were found in various locations within the building,” read an advisory on the entrance of the clinic Friday.  

United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) released a statement on May 8 saying the findings are deeply concerning.

“UNA is using every tool at its disposal to ensure the Government of Alberta’s Department of Infrastructure and the private building management company are held accountable and take immediate action to remove the lead from the HVAC system,” said UNA in a media release. 

“It is critical that the government and health care employers ensure this does not happen again at this worksite or any others.”

An Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) report circulating online details the response to finding lead in the building’s HVAC system after renovations were conducted on the air handling unit.

OHS is now requiring the property manager, BGIS, to cease operation of the ventilation system in the provincial building until the company provides OHS with results of professional testing that demonstrates each of the involved air handling systems and surface areas, including visitor areas, no longer contain lead.  

OHS first found that lead may have entered the HVAC system in September 2024 when upgrades to the building's air handling unit were being conducted and “the project had not been conducted in a way that ensured that lead dust could not enter the opened ducting of the air handling system. 

“Air monitoring provided during the project could not be relied upon as it was not done properly,” reads the OHS report. 

In October, surface wipes of the building were conducted, and lead levels were found to be above 40 ug/ft2 (micrograms per square foot) in certain areas. One area of the building had measurements as high as 1,486 ug/ft2, and 28 of 36 samples were above 40 ug/ft2.

The testing company recommended that the the surfaces in the mechanical rooms on the main and third floor and all HVAC supply and return ducts be cleaned and decontaminated. 

An additional test was conducted, and more areas were found above the 40 ug/ft2 threshold.

The testing company then recommended that even more areas be cleaned. 

Additional testing was done in November, and three of five surface samples taken on the ventilation system were found to be above the clearance level.

A second service company reviewed the reports and concurred with its findings.

According to the OHS report, air testing had not been done while the HVAC unit was operational.

BGIS said the HVAC unit was not operated since Oct. 31 and would not be used until abatement was complete, according to the report. 

On Jan. 30, OHS met with BGIS, and the property management company said a tendering process for hiring a company to complete the cleaning was underway. 

BGIS then hired an additional company to conduct surface testing and had a previous company review the results. Deficiencies in the sampling were found. 

A previous sampling company was used on Feb. 27  to conduct surface samples and air quality measurements. OHS says no sampling for lead was done in the air. 

Town & Country News requested information about the mitigation efforts and whether air quality issues only affected a portion of the provincial building or if other attached buildings, such as the courthouse, were affected.

BGIS directed the News to the provincial Ministry of Infrastructure with any questions.

The News then contacted the Ministry of Infrastructure and received a partial response from the Ministry of Jobs, Economy and Trade.

“The health and safety of Alberta’s workers is our government’s top priority,” said Jobs, Economy and Trade to the News in an email.  

“Alberta has some of the highest workplace health and safety standards in the world - and we expect those standards to be upheld in every workplace across the province.

“As this is an active OHS investigation, no further information can be provided at this time.”

The ministry didn’t respond to the News’ questions about the estimated timeline of the closure, current measures and how many services will be affected. 

On Friday, it appeared that the building was open except at the public health entrance. 

The Cool Aid Society will close its doors and services at the end of June after provincial cuts to funding. 

The 45-year-old organization provides no-cost after-school and evening programs for city youth. It currently serves over 300 registered families, with daily drop-in attendance ranging from 25 to 70 children. 

“Following a final board vote and an extensive review of all available sustainability options, including merger discussions, alternative fee-for-service models, grant applications, and community fundraising efforts, the Cool Aid Society of Grande Prairie has made the difficult decision to cease operations,” said AmandaBeret Gerber, Cool Aid Society executive director.

“The Cool Aid Society extends its heartfelt gratitude to every family, staff member, donor, volunteer, funder, and community member who has supported its mission over the past four decades,” reads a press release. 

“The contributions and care shown by this community have made an immeasurable impact on the lives of thousands of local youth.”

Cool Aid’s last day of programming will be June 25; formal dissolution of the society will follow. 

“I don't know what I'm going to do … it's a real shame to see such a great resource closing,” said Jamie-Lee Cormier, whose son Nathan, 9, has been going to Cool Aid for the past year. She said the news of the closing of Cool Aid is compounded by the closure of the Stepping Stones afterschool program at St. Patrick Catholic School, which is ending in June, which her youngest son Noah, 6, attends. 

Grande Prairie and District Catholic Schools said in an email response to the News that although the daycare space will be repurposed into a classroom, before- and after-school childcare will continue to be offered. All-day childcare will no longer be available. 

Cormier says it can cost about $660 for after-school care, making childcare difficult for a single parent.

“They can't get bussed because we live too close to the school, and even if they could get bussed I'm not home; I work till five. As a working mom, it's going to be a real struggle.”

She said she is fortunate to have a job that allows her to pick up her children and bring them to after-school care if needed.

Cool Aid was also a place for childcare on school professional development days.

“There's gonna be a big void for a lot of parents.”

Cormier says the loss of Cool Aid is also a loss for the community as it helped keep teenagers busy and helped them stay out of trouble. 

The society lost about 90 per cent of its budget after Recovery Alberta Mental Health and Addiction cut its funding, noting it was “nothing personal” but rather a change in the province’s mandate to fund intervention rather than prevention.

The society was first told of the cut on Jan. 21, leaving it without enough funds to operate beyond March 31.

In February, the City of Grande Prairie and United Way Alberta Northwest each gave Cool Aid $30,000 to ensure its programming could continue until the end of the school year. 

Gerber outlined the efforts of the staff and volunteers of Cool Aid as they worked over the past months to find a solution.

It tried to partner with other non-profits, looked at moving to a pay model with business sponsors, as well as trying to sell its Hillside building. 

“We've definitely cut every possible operational expense that we can,” said Gerber, noting in the last weeks t’s been working with a “skeleton crew.”

Still, last week, she told Town & Country News, “Everyone is genuinely trying very hard to find a solution of some kind; at the moment, we do not have one.”

In an email to the News, she said that Cool Aid notified the city and United Way of its decision on Thursday, May 8. 

All unused Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) funds will be returned along with its emergency funds, she said. 

“Our board has elected to return the emergency funds to both the city and United Way once our assets are liquidated to ensure that money can be given to another organization and as a matter of accountability and respect for the support provided when we needed it most,” said Gerber.

A city report from February says eliminating Cool Aid Society's services could “increase reliance on costly emergency services, social support programs and law enforcement.”

City Housing & Community Development director Tammy Wentzell told council in February other organizations funded by Recovery Alberta may face similar challenges.

She said the city and some organizations may need to change their messaging to ensure they keep their funding. Cool Aid Society does bridge the gap between prevention and intervention.

“I don't know if it's a different conversation that we got to start having or a different way to look at how we're talking about the programs.

“We do have to switch our language and how we're using it, or how we're telling our story, because we are not a recovery community at this time, but we have to remember that when the province is (saying) ‘we’re intervention versus prevention.’”

In February, Mayor Jackie Clayton said the province’s mental health and recovery funding changes impact the local community.

“We all know that if we don't have prevention, in particular, youth programming, that we will, in time, need more money in intervention and recovery,” she said.

Cool Aid Society was founded in 1979 and has supported the community’s youth with mental health support, after-school and evening programs and community engagement. 

Previous coverage of the Cool Aid Society from Town & Country News

May 8: Cool Aid Society still in search of funder

Feb. 13: United Way, city step up with $60,000 for youth centre

Feb. 6: Province surprises youth centre with abrupt stop in funding

Residents and businesses were evacuated Sunday after a wildfire near Deer Ridge Estates started south of Grande Prairie.

Around 4:45 p.m., police were observed blocking Hwy. 40 and telling campers at the KOA campground to evacuate. 

By 6:30 p.m., an evacuation order was in place for Sunrise Estates, Sunrise Estates 2 and Core 40 Industrial Park.

An update from Grande Prairie Regional Emergency Partnership (GPREP) at 10 p.m. said that “County Regional Fire Service and Alberta Wildfire have made significant progress to contain the fire using fire retardant dropped by air tankers and a dozer guard.”

It confirmed that no homes were lost due to the fire and that the fire crews would work overnight to fight the fire.

GPREP said that about 90 per cent of the fire was contained by Monday morning and that ground crews and an Alberta Wildfire bucketing helicopter will focus on extinguishing hot spots throughout the day. 

On Monday evening, evacuees were able to return to their homes, said the county noting that the fire was being held “due to the availability of air tankers and swift and ongoing ground fire crew response.”

Fire crews remained on site overnight and an update on Tuesday morning from the county said that crews have created a perimeter and “there should be no opportunity for the fire to pick up and begin moving.”

Fire bans

The County of Grande Prairie then issued a fire ban that also included the towns of Beaverlodge, Sexsmith and Wembley. 

County fire crews spent much of the weekend battling wildfire blazes. 

Morgan’s Mountain wildfire

On Saturday afternoon, fire crews responded to a wildfire in the Morgan's Mountain areanortheast of Sexsmith. 

Three homes were evacuated, and the fires destroyed a “few sheds and an RV,” said the county.

The Morgan’s Mountain fire was reported as being held by about 5 p.m. on Saturday.

The cause is still under investigation.