Close-by doctors, specialists and technology make health care more accessible for urban patients than it is for their rural and remote counterparts — no secret there.

But Justin Wright, Alberta’s minister of primary and preventative health services, hopes to help counterbalance that fact of life through actions like the awarding of grants to rural and remote clinics.

“My vision for health care is that you’re not having to drive three hours to meet with the people you need to see to diagnose you,” Wright told The Macleod Gazette in a recent interview. “This is about supporting folks closer to home.”

Alberta recently put $9 million towards rural primary care, including almost $8 million through the Rural Team Recruitment Grant to help clinics strengthen their care teams.

In the latest intake under the recruitment grant, the province awarded $3.4 million to 23 clinics, supporting 53 new full-time health-care positions in rural and remote communities across Alberta.

On the latest list are clinics in places like Consort, about 220 kilometres east of Red Deer near the Saskatchewan border, and Vermilion, 190 km east of Edmonton. Their combined population is around half a percentage point of the capital’s population.

In the deep southwest of the province, 145 km west of Lethbridge, a Crowsnest Pass clinic got a funding thumbs up, too.

Clinics in 18 other communities are on the list — places like Stettler, Ponoka, Grande Prairie, Crossfield, Sundre, Langdon and Stirling.

Reflecting goals of the Alberta government’s Rural Health Action Plan, the $9 million is federal money available through a bilateral health care agreement.

Wright said more clinic staffing and other grants for clinics reduce pressure on rural family doctors and acute care services like emergency rooms.

For its knock-on impact on acute care, Wright highlighted $1 million recently awarded under the agreement within an envelope called the Municipality Supported Clinics Grants.

The money for seven municipalities will support new staff, including medical office assistants, managers, navigators and virtual clinic coordinators. Also qualifying are medical equipment, staff training and technology.

Wright, who represents Cypress-Medicine Hat, points to nearby Bow Island municipal clinic and the support it received.

“This is designed to take pressure off acute care,” he said, noting that the grant will help ensure those who head to the hospital or emergency room go there for the right reasons — not because they have no other option.

Barrhead Family Clinic, northwest of Edmonton, received funding through a previous round of the team recruitment grant. It increased the number of patients served by almost 30 per cent after onboarding patient care coordinators.

The Crowsnest Medical Clinic reported to the government that the hiring of a social worker made it possible to serve 98 patients through advocacy for care coordination and connecting them to community resources.

“It’s absolutely vital that we do what we can to support our rural and remote communities,” Wright said.

The grants allow for enhanced service and support for general practitioners.

“These are our allied health-care professionals, our athletic therapists, our physician assistants, our licensed practical nurses, our registered nurses, our patient navigators, our social workers, to name a few.”

Doctors and other health-care professionals are more likely to choose rural or remote Alberta if they know that local clinics will support them well, Wright said.

The rural recruitment grant should help “attract physicians to some of our more beautiful areas of the province,” the minister said.

“Whether that’s northern Alberta, southern Alberta, along the slopes, you’re going to really be able to take in some of what Alberta has to offer, and you’re going to find that all of our communities have exactly what you need to make a very positive and fruitful life,” Wright added.

By George Lee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Original Published on Sep 08, 2026 at 21:30

 

This item reprinted with permission from   Fort Macleod Gazette   Fort Macleod, Alberta

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