As the urban center and regional hub for health and medical services in Northwestern Alberta Grande Prairie is home to many health services including the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital, Queen Elizabeth II (QEII) Hospital, cancer care, community programs and family physicians.
The Grande Prairie Regional Hospital hosts 243 new beds, a state of the art cancer centre, 28-bed mental health unit and a 32-bed medical unit, 11 operating rooms, and 4,000 square metres for nursing and medical careers programming from the Northwestern Polytechnic (NWP). As demand increases for services as the regional population grows, Grande Prairie is well positioned as a hub for health services in northwestern Alberta. Because of this expansion, other healthcare spin-off opportunities continue to grow including medical device manufacturing, research and innovation, and training opportunities.
In August 2021 the City of Grande Prairie kicked off the development of a Health Care Attraction Strategy to identify opportunities for investment attraction within the growing regional sector.
Advantages
Availability of Skilled Labour
The region is home to 5,674 workers employed in health care and social assistance, with new workers entering the labour force every year from NWP and Northern Lakes College.
Advanced Training Opportunities
NWP’s strategic partnerships coupled with dedicated training space at the regional hospital create an ideal opportunity for advanced training.
The state-of-the-art facility in the college wing of the regional hospital is dedicated to research surrounding rural, northern, and Indigenous health benefitting new and existing health care programming. The facility will develop, implement, and sustain a research program in collaboration with health services and industry partners in northwestern Alberta.
The polytechnic’s partnership with Health City will further develop research, and innovation in the region. Students are connected to opportunities in the health care sector that will develop, grow, and commercialize their ideas, strategies and future products.
Innovative Partnerships
Northwestern Polytechnic: Rural Medical Education Program Training Centre
Health care workers that are trained in rural areas are more likely to continue their practice in a rural region. To help boost attraction and retention in rural zones, the University of Alberta (U of A) and NWP signed a Memorandum of Understanding in April 2024 to establish a Rural Medical Education Program Training Centre in Grande Prairie. NWP and the U of A plan to welcome the first cohort of medical students to dedicated regional and residence training centres in Grande Prairie, in Fall 2025.
Maskwa Medical Centre
Maskwa Medical Centre will be an innovative, Alberta-based, not-for-profit registered charity focused on accelerating the process and improving access to medical specialists and services for the people of the Peace Region. The Centre will have a 22,000 square foot teaching space dedicated to training resident physicians. Maskwa has a unique design and floor plan that will host different health services on each of its three floors.
Partnerships with NWP, U of A, Maskwa Medical Center, and corresponding facilities are integral to improving the quality of life and health outcomes for residents of Northwestern Alberta.