City officially forms MCC to buy and operate medical clinic

The City of Cold Lake has officially formed a Municipally Controlled Corporation which will soon assume possession of the Glacier Gate clinic beginning April 1, if there are no snags.  

At last Tuesday’s council meeting, city council passed three motions, including to establish the MCC, authorize an agreement between the City and the MCC by establishing terms and obligations, and transfer $100,000 to the MCC. 

The cost of purchasing runs to roughly $1.8 million, as the MCC will allow the City to have a greater say in recruiting more doctors and health care professionals to Cold Lake. 

“Come April 1, the idea is that we want to be up in business,” said Mayor Craig Copeland. 

“The MCC, the contracts with each doctor that’s currently in Glacier, will just move over to the MCC and the employees that are working in Glacier Gate, to provide the services to the docs, they’ll just roll over and be part of the MCC envelope.” 

The City held a public hearing at its Jan. 23 council meeting, where residents were able to pose questions to council. 

A five member board, with two sitting councillors, will then be formed. 

The clinic’s business plan did receive minor alterations have resident input.   

“Despite continued interest from new physicians wanting to come to the community, once Alberta Health Services has secured the replacement of outgoing physicians, no additional effort is made to continue recruiting (even when positions are being posted). In fact, recruitment efforts are sometimes faced with open opposition and conflict,” city notes read from Feb. 14, citing this has been on the radar since 2006.

The board will look at health care delivery from a different lens, says Copeland.

“We’re going to be looking at some people from the community that have a business background, because it’s going to be running a business. And so you want some people on the board, not everybody, but you want a few that have a bit of that background,” he said.