The province of Alberta has backed the Town and County of St. Paul’s bid to construct a new medical centre and all three groups are now putting the ball in the federal government’s court to step up and do its share.
“There are exciting things happening,” said Ray Danyluk, Alberta Minister of Infrastructure, in a Friday meeting between himself, Reeve Steve Upham and Mayor Glenn Andersen. Danyluk was pleased to announce the province would contribute $2.5 million towards a new professional health centre for St. Paul.
The County and Town of St. Paul have each committed $1 million to the medical centre, which is estimated to cost up to $6 million. The developer who owns land on the far east side of town, the proposed location for the new centre, has also donated serviced land to the project.
Now, Danyluk says, the onus is on the Government of Canada. “There’s a responsibility for all forms of government,” he said, adding pressure has to be exerted on the local MP, Brian Storseth, to figure out how his government can support the project.
“We hope the MP puts as much effort into this as our MLA,” added Andersen.
Storseth has indicated that he believes the project is an important one to the community, and that the federal government should be involved; however, he has said health care is the responsibility of the province, telling town council at its Jan. 24 meeting, “This is not federal jurisdiction.” Since health care for First Nations people does fall under the responsibility of the federal government, he told council he would seek out Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) funding. But Andersen suggested there could be other funding opportunities outside of INAC and hoped that the MP would help find any funding source to make sure the project goes ahead.
Several doctors have left the community in the past year, with Dr. Soyege’s exit in December bringing the total number of doctors currently practicing at the Associated Medical Clinic to four. Three other doctors practice in St. Paul outside of the clinic.
Both Upham and Andersen felt that having a modern, wheelchair-accessibility will help attract and retain doctors, particularly if the doctors are able to work independently without having to worry about supplying their own office space.
But at the end of the day, the clinic wasn’t just about providing doctors with a space to work, said Danyluk. “We are not doing this for the doctors. It’s for the community. This is a one-stop medical wellness centre.” He noted that specialists and groups such as the Canadian Diabetes Association or Heart & Stroke Foundation could set up shop within the proposed 25,000 sq. ft. building.
Andersen said that no matter what happened with federal funding, his council was committed to seeing the medical centre go ahead. “We want to be shovel ready in 2010.”
However, Upham added, “We both firmly believe the federal government will be involved in this project.”
