Alberta to fund planning for nine new urgent care centres, including Sylvan Lake
The province is putting $39 million over three years toward planning and land acquisition for nine centres, including one in Sylvan Lake, west of Red Deer.
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Sylvan Lake is getting one of nine new urgent care centres Alberta announced Monday. The province is putting $39 million over three years into planning and land acquisition for the centres, not construction.
The government says the centres will treat same-day urgent but non-life-threatening conditions and will divert an estimated 300,000 emergency visits a year from hospitals. It also claims the network's capacity will rise 150 per cent once the centres are running. Alberta currently has six urgent care facilities.
Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said she would like the new facilities open within three years of shovels going into the ground. She would not give a firm construction timeline, saying land and planning would move quicker where possible. Some municipalities are expected to move faster than others.
Sylvan Lake Mayor Megan Hanson called health care "one of the most important priorities" for residents and said the facility will have a "lasting impact." She said the push for it began in 2010. Dr. Sayeh Zielke, interim CEO of Acute Care Alberta, said an urgent care centre "can see them quickly."
The nine locations include Sylvan Lake, west of Red Deer. Eight others were announced last year under Premier Danielle Smith's government, with a $17 million commitment: east Calgary, west Edmonton, south Edmonton, Stony Plain/Spruce Grove, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Cold Lake and Fort McMurray. The government has not said whether the $39 million covers construction and operating costs, or whether the new nine overlap with those eight.
