For eight years Ken Drysdale has been trying to build a medical centre next to the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital. The building is finally going up.
The Maskwa Medical Centre is a three-storey, 100,000 square foot facility under construction on vacant land next to the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital. Clark Builders is the contractor. Total project cost: approximately $35 million. Target opening: 2026, with full construction completion expected into 2027. No patient user fees.
Maskwa is a registered non-profit charity operating on Treaty 8 Territory, traditional lands of First Nations and Métis people. It was founded in 2018 by Peace region residents with one goal: improve access to healthcare for people in northwestern Alberta without making them drive to Edmonton to get it.
The money to complete the build is what residents are being asked to weigh in on right now.
What is going inside, floor by floor
The ground floor is a 22,000 square foot academic teaching clinic in partnership with the University of Alberta's Faculty of Family Medicine and Northwestern Polytechnic. Twenty resident physicians train on site at any given time, with ten graduating per year. The clinic doubles as a walk-in clinic for the public. No user fees.
The number that makes this floor the most important part of the building: current research shows 70 to 75 percent of rural physician training graduates remain in rural communities. Training ten new family physicians per year in Grande Prairie means a meaningful number of those doctors stay in northwestern Alberta. That is the long-term physician shortage strategy built into the ground floor.
The third floor is a medical specialist clinic aimed at delivering a treatment plan within ten days of a referral. General internists and specialists assess complex cases collaboratively, with the ability to virtually bring in subspecialists for second and third opinions. Potential tenants confirmed as interested include a cardiology and stroke clinic, Indigenous healing centre, and mental health consultants.
The second floor is retail and support: pharmacy, medical supply outlet, daycare for hospital staff, restaurant, nutrition consultants, physiotherapy clinic, and a YMCA workout centre. The underground parkade brings the total footprint to 100,000 square feet.
The problem Maskwa is trying to solve
Northwestern Alberta has a significant physician shortage. The Grande Prairie Regional Hospital serves a catchment area of roughly 300,000 people across northwestern Alberta and northeastern BC and is the only Level 3 trauma centre in the region.
Patients who need specialist care are sometimes forced to book time off work, travel several hours to Edmonton, pay for accommodation, and navigate a city healthcare system that is not designed for them. That burden falls hardest on people who can least afford it.
"Hopefully Grande Prairie can be a collector of difficult cases in the northwest and solve that instead of people travelling to Edmonton," said Drysdale. "Everybody knows that early intervention saves money and lives."
A specialist clinic that delivers a treatment plan in ten days from a referral, next door to the main hospital, accessible without leaving the Peace region, is what Maskwa is building. The walk-in clinic on the ground floor reduces ER pressure before it reaches the hospital entirely.
The loan guarantee, explained simply
Maskwa is borrowing $23.35 million from ATB Financial to fund construction. ATB requires municipal guarantees to back that debt.
The City of Grande Prairie approved Loan Guarantee Bylaw C-1494 at its April 2, 2026 council meeting. The County of Grande Prairie is being asked to guarantee up to $5.84 million of the same loan. The MD of Greenview is considering a $5 million guarantee.
What is being asked of municipalities is not cash. Not a donation. Not a loan. A guarantee means that if Maskwa cannot repay ATB, the guaranteeing municipality covers its portion. That is the risk. In practice, the guarantees reduce over time as the loan is paid down through building lease revenue, provincial contributions, and ongoing fundraising. Once construction is complete, the project transitions to conventional financing supported by tenant lease income.
Who is already supporting it
In May 2026, the RBC Foundation donated $400,000 through its Community Spaces grant program toward accessible healthcare infrastructure at Maskwa. Big Lakes County has committed $846,940 over three years. The City and County of Grande Prairie and the MD of Greenview covered the $1.5 million engineering design cost before construction started. The University of Alberta and Northwestern Polytechnic are academic partners. The Grande Prairie and District Chamber of Commerce, the Town of Fairview, and multiple Peace region municipalities have formally endorsed the project.
Donations can be made through the Northwestern Alberta Foundation at maskwamedical.ca.
How to give feedback before June 28
The County of Grande Prairie's online survey on the loan guarantee is open until midnight June 28. City of Grande Prairie residents should check cityofgp.com for the city's bylaw engagement process.
More information about the facility, the specialist clinic model, and how to support the project is at maskwamedical.ca or call 780-831-0796.
Sources:
Maskwa Medical Centre, Medical Centre overview page (maskwamedical.ca/maskwa-medical-center)
Maskwa Medical Centre, Academic Teaching Clinic page (maskwamedical.ca/teaching-clinic)
Maskwa Medical Centre, RBC Foundation Community Spaces Grant announcement, May 26, 2026 (maskwamedical.ca)
Maskwa Medical Centre, 2025 Year in Review, December 29, 2025 (maskwamedical.ca)
Maskwa Medical Centre, Breaking Ground news release, May 12, 2025 (maskwamedical.ca)
City of Grande Prairie, Council Highlights April 2, 2026 — Maskwa Medical Centre Municipal Loan Guarantee (cityofgp.com)
County of Grande Prairie, Maskwa Medical Centre loan guarantee public engagement, June 2026 (countygp.ab.ca)
