Health complex planned for Beaverlodge, Alta., will have 24/7 emergency care

A new health complex planned for northwestern Alberta is now slated to be open 24/7 after community members voiced concerns over the initial plan for the facility, which would have seen it closed overnight. 

At a community meeting in late June, residents of Beaverlodge, a town about 500 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, were told the Mountview Health Complex would have urgent care services only 16 hours each day.

But Alberta Health Services announced in September that it was considering offering urgent care services around the clock at the new facility. 

In a statement Monday, the Ministry of Health confirmed the change.

"Extensive consultations with the community, its leadership and stakeholders – including residents and local physicians – shaped the decision to include 24/7 urgent care services, ensuring the facility better meets the needs of Beaverlodge and surrounding areas," said the statement. 

The Mountview Health Complex, which will replace the Beaverlodge Municipal Hospital that has served the region since 1956, is scheduled to open in 2028. 

It will have 32 inpatient beds, lab services, diagnostic imaging and an "advanced ambulatory care centre," which is now scheduled to be open 24 hours a day. 

Beaverlodge Mayor Gary Rycroft said he's glad to hear the new facility will have round-the-clock urgent care. 

"We're overwhelmed and very pleased, very happy with the doctors have stepped up and and with Alberta Health Services, in good faith, everybody seems to be quite happy about the outcome," said Rycroft in a phone interview. 

"The whole system and whole facility is going to guarantee that we can be taken care of in our own community," he added. 

Rycroft explained that many patients are currently taken to the hospital in Beaverlodge, where they are stabilized before being moved to Grande Prairie or Edmonton, depending on severity. 

"It's a system that has been working well for us here for a long time," he said.  "[The announcement] means the status quo will be maintained."

Town resident Tallie Nykolyshyn, who has been writing letters to the province along with other residents to voice her concerns about the previously planned service reduction, feels the news will allow residents to have some peace of mind. 

"It just shows that obviously we stuck together as a community, for the support that we needed," said Nykolyshyn.

"It shows that what we rallied for, we had a say in. We were able to do something and keep our health centre the way it is."

In its announcement on Monday, the province said functional planning for the complex is now complete and the project has now entered its design phase. 

"Alberta Health Services, in collaboration with the Mountview Health Complex Committee, will continue to consult with residents and health care professionals as the project progresses," it said.

An in-person town hall will be held December 4th at 6 p.m. at the Beaverlodge Community Centre to keep the community informed, it added.