CL Medical looks to expand

Cold Lake, AB - Council had the opportunity to review the CL Medical Clinic's plans for expanding the clinic building, after increasing the number of doctors setting up their practice and providing care from the facility.

Since April 2023, the number of doctors has increased from two to five, including one dedicated physician for the clinic. There is also a pending announcement for one more doctor on the way to fill a sixth position in the clinic.

"We are achieving what we set out to do, which is bring more doctors to our community," said Deputy Mayor Chris Vining. "It's been an up-hill battle, but we are making progress in order to make sure our residents all have adequate and dedicated care."

CL Medical Clinic is operated by a Municipal Controlled Corporation, which has a board of directors consisting of two members of council and three members of the community. The corporation was formed in February 2023, and took over the clinic by April, after the clinic was struggling financially.

"By taking over operations, we've been able to have a more direct impact on bringing in doctors to the community," said Vining. "We have also been able to bring the clinic to good financial stability."

To accommodate the growing number of physicians available at the clinic and the vision of expanding primary care services being provided in the community, the building requires physical expansion. Expansion allows for a larger waiting area, more clinic rooms, and additional offices for doctors to use, rather than sharing one small office as they currently do.

Council was presented with several expansion options at the Tuesday, Nov. 19 Corporate Priorities meeting, including doubling the base footprint of the building, adding a second floor, or both. Options also included increasing the number of parking spaces. By expanding the floorspace, the number of doctors working from the building could be increased anywhere from nine to over 15 total doctors, depending on the expansion options and configuration chosen. There could also be space available for other medical support services.

The Board of Directors and the doctors at the clinic have a common vision to increase physicians at the clinic and in turn, increase patient capacity. This would provide cross- and support-coverage for patients and expanded opportunities to access primary care.

Construction for the expansion is estimated to cost $4 million, as well as costs for design and development documents before construction can begin. The majority of this cost would be paid for by the corporation and grant funding, but council also has the option to assist from City of Cold Lake budgets, should there be a need.

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