Attracting doctors to the city is a top concern for Cold Lake. City Council is in the beginning stages of their Strategic Planning Initiatives where council comes up with five goals they wish to achieve over the next year or two.
Mayor of Cold Lake Craig Copeland says one of the major issues that is brought up as a goal for council to focus on is  health care and how to make it more accessible to everyone. Currently, a major issue for residents of Cold Lake is not having a family doctor, The City hopes to resolve this issue by attracting new doctors to the city. There are a couple hurdles to overcome, one being space and two be affordability.
When it comes to space Cold Lake is looking to touch base with the current doctors to see if there would be a need to open another clinic in the city. There are three clinics in operation, however, many of the doctors at the clinics have full patient lists, which leaves little room for treating new patients. The City wonders if by opening another clinic would they be able to attract doctors to fill it.
Which brings up the next hurdle, The City has seen issues with attracting doctors because of the cost of living. When coupling the cost of opening up a practice, the rental costs on a building  with the real estate cost for a home, Cold Lake can become unattractive to new physicians. The City is exploring an idea, that worked for the Town of St. Paul, of helping with the rental and housing costs for doctors new to Cold Lake.
Mayor Copeland says council will continue to explore these issues to make sure the city is going with the population.
See below for the full interview with Mayor Craig Copeland