The St. Therese-St. Paul Healthcare Centre is one of 15 rural hospitals receiving provincial dollars for upgrades, says the UCP government.
On Wednesday the province announced the Rural Health Facilities Revitalization Fund, a $50 million plan for upgrades and renovations at the facilities.
The province says the St. Therese-St. Paul Healthcare Centre will receive $3.5 million for renovation work in the emergency department.
“Rural communities help make our province thrive and grow. This investment protects the lives and health of people living in these communities and also protects livelihoods by creating jobs as part of our multibillion-dollar Capital Plan to build Alberta and prepare it for recovery from COVID-19. Alberta’s government is committed to spending $50-million over three years to address often neglected rural health care needs and facilities,” says Premier Jason Kenney.
The work on all the projects is expected to be done within the next three years. The province says the work will “create about 280 construction jobs and stimulate the local economies.”
Other health care centres in the Alberta Health Services North Zone seeing funding for projects include the Peace River Community Health Centre and funding for a new, larger EMS station in the community of Slave Lake.
The province says $10 million has been set aside to demolish decommissioned health facilities in Claresholm, Edson and “potentially elsewhere to prepare the sites for future development opportunities.”
With files from a Government of Alberta release
