Residents of the Northern Alberta hamlet are relieved as the maternity center project moves forward

As construction plans get underway for a new health and maternity center in the remote hamlet of La Crete, Alta., community members are expressing their excitement about the project they say is desperately needed.

About 3,800 people live in the hamlet and surrounding area, about 700 kilometers northwest of Edmonton.

Expectant parents must travel approximately 70 miles to the nearest hospital that does deliveries, located in High Level.

The province announced funding for the $79 million project in 2021. The opening is expected to take place at the end of 2026.

The La Crete Maternity and Community Health Center will be operated by Covenant Health and will provide comprehensive advanced outpatient care, low-risk maternity care and other health care services. It will be built next to an existing health center and a secondary care center.

According to Covenant Health, it is now in the final design stages and is expected to have a contract with the successful contractor manager in February.

Residents like Joyce Fehr have been calling for a new maternity center for more than a decade.

“People, they grow up here. This is where their family is. They raise their children, they grow old here, they die here, and so we have to look at services for all of them,” said Covenant President Fehr . Health Council in the region.

“Taking care of the births is a big deal because… you know, 400-plus people [births] per year, which is more than one per day if people travel out of town for it.

“And there's always babies being born on the side of the road, in the ambulance or, you know, on the way to the hospital. That safety aspect is taken care of.”

Community members asked Alberta Health Services in 2010 and again in 2011 to provide prenatal and postpartum services in the region, according to previous reporting by CBC News.

Having care directly in the community will relieve a lot of stress for expectant parents, Fehr said. The community is close-knit, with a high Mennonite population, many with large families.

'From birth to death'

Fehr said there is a great need for the maternity center in the community.

“There's a lot of kids. We have, I think, six or eight schools. There's a lot of private schools. We have a long-term care facility. We have a senior lodge,” she said.

“We are actually a community where we have to provide services from birth to death.”

The upgraded facility will improve access to primary care and mental health services in northern Alberta, according to a statement from Alberta Infrastructure. It will also include an ambulance response facility with ambulance bays.

On Oct. 31, the county submitted an application for qualification for general contractor services for the project, with a closing date of Nov. 28.

While officials and residents are excited about what the new center means for La Crete and the surrounding area, they are also concerned that it has taken so long to get the ball rolling.

“In many cases it's an hour and a half travel to a hospital where deliveries are taking place,” said Mackenzie County Reeve Josh Knelsen. [the maternity centre] what is desired is probably a bit of an understatement. It's more than necessary.

“It could very easily be the difference between life and death. It is a long way that we have traveled, over 150 kilometers, to the nearest hospital for many people living in the southern part of our community.”

Knelsen said he is excited to think about the opening of the new facility, “and to be able to meet people on the street who are about to bring little ones into this world, and knowing that there will be an element of stress eliminated by the opening of this facility.”