COLD LAKE -The City of Cold Lake is moving forward with plans to expand and renovate the Cold Lake Medical Clinic, as outlined in a detailed update by CAO Kevin Nagoya at the April 15 Corporate Priorities Committee meeting.
The project, which has moved from conceptual design to development stages, was originally outlined in the Schematic Design Report dated July 2024.
Nagoya emphasized the community importance of the project, stating, “This presentation was recently completed with a meeting with all the doctors that work out of the Cold Lake hospital, and to provide an update to the project, solicit any feedback or questions that council may have.”
He added, “It is a pretty significant project for the community.”
Speaking about the clinic’s history, Nagoya said it was established in 2009.
The clinic’s role in physician recruitment and retention in the city was also stressed, along with the City’s role in healthcare service delivery.
“A lot of community members don’t have physicians, and that’s the same issue we were facing back in 2005 and still face today,” said Nagoya. “At that time, taking over the Cold Lake Medical Clinic became an important priority for city council—to become more directly involved in service delivery and healthcare for the community.”
The current location, formerly known as Glacier Medical Clinic, is considered ideal. “The proximity is about a block from the hospital, very close proximity, of which the physicians really enjoy,” said Nagoya. “You can actually just walk across the road over to the clinic.”
He described challenges with the existing layout. “This place gets full, so it is kind of the challenge is the design, because it was designed intentionally by previous doctors to be kind of two separate clinics, and now it's evolved in terms of practice.”
A growth in physicians interested in coming to Cold Lake to practice is driving the need for expansion.
“We have . . . grown to one, to two . . . now we're looking at five, six, and maybe even seven people that are interested there. There are still more doctors that have expressed interest to be within the facility.”
The City of Cold Lake proactively purchased land to the west in anticipation of expansion, with some nearby parcels still available for sale.
Nagoya explained that expanding is necessary because renovating the active clinic would be difficult due to dust and disruptions. The plan is to move everyone into the new space before renovating the existing facility.
He described the updated floor plan in detail, from patient entry to office configurations and dedicated procedure rooms.
“Doctor condos” are also part of the redesign. “You have an office in the middle and two clinics that are flanking it. A Medical Office Assistant (MOA) station is nearby that has the supplies to be able to turn around quickly and have the patients see the doctors.”
The expanded clinic will also include improved accessibility features and dedicated MOA spaces.
Nagoya said the tender document is likely still a few months away from being ready. Council received the presentation as information on April 15.
