West Edmonton health and wellness centre to reopen with provincial grant

A community health centre that offered primary health care and wraparound services to unhoused and marginalized people will reopen in west Edmonton.

The province is providing a two-year grant worth $4.8 million that will allow the Jasper Place Wellness Centre medical clinic to resume services, Health Minister Adriana LaGrange announced Tuesday.

Jasper Place is one of four community health centres receiving money from the province.

Radius Community Health & Healing in Edmonton is getting $7 million and in Calgary, The Alex is set to receive $11.6 million, while $6.6 million will go to the CUPS Calgary Society.

"With this funding, we will build on their legacy, reaching deeper into our communities, providing greater support to Alberta's most vulnerable populations," said Taylor Soroka, vice-president of strategy, Jasper Place Wellness Centre, at the announcement.

She said unlike traditional medical clinics, community health centres provide care that addresses a person's unique medical needs, but also social and economic factors that affect overall well-being.

Physicians will be paid by salary rather than the fee-for-service model so people can more easily have complex needs addressed.

"The integration of social services with primary care transforms both individuals and neighbourhoods," Soroka said.

The Jasper Place Wellness Centre medical clinic operated out of a trailer at 15306 Stony Plain Road for seven years before closing its doors in May 2023 due to a lack of funding.

Soroka said they are looking to lease a space in the same area and hope to reopen by the new year after conducting a needs assessment in consultation with community members.

"Because no one knows better what they need, than the community that we're serving," Soroka said.

Auxiliary supports could include housing navigators, occupational therapists, social workers and counsellors.

Nakota Isga ward Coun. Andrew Knack said he is "excited that this is going to happen."

He said the clinic is an important resource for community members in need of more dedicated medical services they might not be able to access in a shelter.

Knack emphasized the need for long-term, stable funding that allows agencies to plan, recruit and better help patients.

"I know that service is going to be well used and I hope this is the first of many more things to come so that we can more fully address the challenges that we're dealing with," Knack said in an interview Tuesday.

Tuesday's funding announcement is part of an overall $42-million package aimed at improving access to primary care through team-based care, including rural access.