By Andrea Nicholl
Health services in the City of Lloydminster have received “incredible injection” with the allocation of more than $45 million from the Alberta government.
Health and Wellness Minister Gene Zwozdesky and Deputy Minister Jay Ramotar met health care professionals and advisors on Friday morning to identify the city’s unique challenges and to confirm significant investment on behalf of the province.
Minister Zwozdesky confirmed $34 million in funding for the 72-bed expansion project for the Dr. Cooke Extended Care Centre, $2.5 million for the land purchase of the site and $10 million for the new Thorpe Recovery Centre.
Upon funding confirmation for such projects, Minister Zwozdesky also  announced and made official a $1 million commitment to the expansion and renovation projects for the Lloydminster Hospital.
“We are pleased to announce and confirm our participation as the province of Alberta to the necessary renovations and some expansions of the Lloydminster Hospital,” he said from council chambers on Friday afternoon. “It will allow the regional hospital to expand and renovate its emergency capacity area, its front entrance area as well as the mammography stations and the admitting area.”
“These announcements today are so critically important for the future of  Lloydminster, for the brand we call Lloydminster and for taking good care of our people,” said Mayor Jeff Mulligan.
The minister and deputy minister met with Mayor Mulligan, MLA Tim McMillian, MLA Lloyd Snelgrove as well as members from the Lloydminster Health Foundation, Prairie North Health Region, city council and the health advisory to identify future health service developments and improvements in the Border City.
Snelgrove and Zwozdesky agree it’s difficult to satisfy the city’s growing population and identify the bi-provincial catchment area, but say cooperation and communication is key.
“As a province we recognize the fact that health care is beyond just our borders and Lloydminster is just a little close to home for us because we live it everyday,” said Snelgrove. “Health care is just one more example that we can do far more together when we communicate, when we sit at the table, when we talk about the issues we face and on a go forward basis there is no better petri dish than Lloydminster because this is exactly where communication and cooperation comes together.”
“It’s important to recognize that there’s a lot of governance issues that we have to work out to recognize Lloydminster’s catchment area and the unique circumstances that Lloydminster presents,” said Minister Zwozdesky, adding the catchment area includes nearly 100,000 people.
“When you take the four points of Onion Lake to the north, Vermilion to the west, Marwayne to the south and Maidstone, Saskatchewan to the east Lloydminster finds itself in the heart of it.”