COLD LAKE – The Cold Lake Medical Clinic is getting significantly bigger, with construction now underway on a $ 7-million expansion that will add more than 15,000 square feet and create space for at least eight additional doctors, medical specialists and potential walk-in clinic services.

Members of the Cold Lake Medical Clinic Board, Cold Lake City Council and the clinic’s administrative team gathered to celebrate the official groundbreaking for the project.

Construction is expected to take approximately 18 months.

The expansion comes as demand for healthcare services continues to grow in Cold Lake and builds on the City’s efforts to recruit physicians and expand the range of medical services residents can access closer to home.

Once complete, the additional space will have capacity for at least eight more physicians, along with room for medical specialists.

Plans also create opportunities for walk-in clinic services and other healthcare providers, potentially including physiotherapy, massage therapy and Primary Care Network programming.

The expansion follows another major healthcare milestone for the community. The City recently signed an agreement with CGA Medical Imaging Inc. to bring a permanent MRI to the Cold Lake clinic.

Under that agreement, the City will provide CGA Medical Imaging with a $1.75-million loan toward purchasing the MRI, while the clinic will oversee the renovations and expansion required to house and operate the equipment. The City’s investment is expected to be recovered through a revenue-sharing agreement once the MRI becomes operational.

The planned MRI will be capable of full-body scans, with future plans to expand into cardiac imaging and breast cancer screening.

Together, the projects represent a significant expansion of the healthcare services and diagnostic capacity available in Cold Lake and the surrounding region.

Cold Lake City Council also acknowledged the people who have helped move the clinic’s growth forward, extending thanks to the physicians and staff at the Cold Lake Medical Clinic as well as the Board of Directors of the City of Cold Lake’s municipally controlled corporation.

With construction now underway, the expanded clinic is expected to take approximately a year and a half to complete.