Three motions have been passed by Cold Lake City Council to move the creation of a Municipally Controlled Corporation into its final phase.
The MCC will run a medical clinic in the hopes it will assist with physician recruitment.
The passed motions asked administration to formally establish the MCC, open up a new bank account and put $100,000 from the restricted surplus into the account, and finally ratify a shareholder agreement with the city and the MCC.
Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland says getting more doctors into our community has been a top priority since 2006.
“Doctors are interested in coming to Cold Lake, but we seem to be only able to replace doctors who leave without making any additional headway. By establishing our own municipally controlled corporation with its sole focus of staffing and operating a primary care medical clinic, the City now has a seat at the table when it comes to recruitment and maintaining its focus on our residents’ best interests.”
The clinic is planned to operate just the same as many other medical clinics in Alberta by providing the space and support needed for doctors to practice. The clinic will be run by a board appointed by City Council with two elected officials and three community members.
“There are still a few more steps that administration has to finish, before we can call this a done deal,” Copeland said. “But it’s exciting and there’s a sense that we will be able to make some very important progress on this issue for the first time in a long time.”
Previously Administration provided Council with a draft business plan on December 13 and then gave a copy of the final business plan was provided at a Special Meeting of Council on December 19.