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 Queen Elizabeth II (QEII) Hospital, our new regional hospital, cancer care, community programs and family physicians.
The completion of the new Grande Prairie Regional Hospital, will bring to the region 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 Grande Prairie Regional College. 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 the Grande Prairie Regional College and Northern Lakes College.
Advanced Training Opportunities
Grande Prairie Regional College’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 college’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.