Publicly funded and not-for-profit Maskwa Medical Centre, opening 2026 in Grande Prairie, requested $478,890 from the town of Fairview, which council declined on Sept. 17.
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Publicly funded and not-for-profit Maskwa Medical Centre, opening 2026 in Grande Prairie, requested $478,890 from the town of Fairview, which council declined on Sept. 17.
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This total was calculated by multiplying Fairview’s latest census by $170, a number calculated by the project’s capital cost and the amount of people living in northwest Alberta.
Maskwa also requested a letter of support, which Fairview agreed to.
Councillor’s Chris Laue and Tim Schindel declined to comment on the decision. CAO Daryl Greenhill, and councillor’s Paul Buck and Stan Golob haven’t responded to requests for statement on the decline at the time of publishing.
Chairman of Maskwa Ken Drysdale said they’re fine with the decision. They don’t know the financial situations of communities, and if they can’t help, they understand.
The centre will still get built, he added.
There’s a pressing need for healthcare in the region, wrote Drysdale to Greenhill and Mayor Gordon MacLeod. “We believe that directing financial support toward the Maskwa Medical Center should take precedence over investments in other areas.”
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The centre will not charge patients. Along with municipality support, funding will come from an agreement with the provincial government.
Maskwa will provide education for future medical professionals, team based diagnostic services for those who need urgent assessments, and medical services.
An agreement with the University of Alberta will also train family doctors for rural areas.
In 1993, the average time it took to see a specialist was 3.6 weeks. In 2023, it was 17.2, according to Drysdale’s presentation.
“As community leaders we cannot wait for governments to achieve the goals we have envisioned but rather band together and make those changes a reality.”
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