24/7 emergency care will be available at the healthcare complex planned for Beaverlodge, Alta.

A new healthcare complex planned for northwestern Alberta is now scheduled to be open 24/7 after community members raised concerns about the initial plan, which would have led to the facility closing overnight.

At a community meeting in late June, residents of the town of Beaverlodge, about 500 kilometers northwest of Edmonton, were told the Mountview Health Complex would only offer 16 hours of emergency care each day.

But Alberta Health Services announced in September that it was considering offering 24-hour urgent care services at the new facility.

The Ministry of Health confirmed the change in a statement on Monday.

“Extensive consultations with the community, its leaders, and stakeholders, including residents and local physicians, shaped the decision to include 24/7 urgent care services, enabling the facility to better meet the needs of Beaverlodge and surrounding areas,” the statement said.

Mountview Health Complex, which will replace Beaverlodge Municipal Hospital, which has been serving the region since 1956, is planned to open in 2028.

It will feature 32 inpatient beds, laboratory services, diagnostic imaging and an “advanced ambulatory care center” that is now planned to be open 24 hours a day.

Beaverlodge Mayor Gary Rycroft said he was pleased to hear the new facility will offer 24-hour emergency care.

“We’re very pleased and very pleased that the doctors took action and Alberta Health Services, in good faith, everyone seems pretty happy with the outcome,” Rycroft said in a phone interview.

“The whole system and the whole facility will make sure we can be taken care of in our own community,” he added.

Rycroft explained that many patients are currently being taken to hospital in Beaverlodge, where they are stabilized before being transported to Grande Prairie or Edmonton, depending on the severity of their condition.

“There has been a system here that has worked well for a long time,” he said. “(The announcement) means the status quo will be maintained.”

Town resident Tallie Nykolyshyn, who along with other residents wrote letters to the state to voice their concerns about the previously planned service cut, thinks the news will give residents some peace of mind.

“This clearly shows that we are sticking together as a community for the support we need,” Nykolyshyn said.

“It shows that we have a say in what we’re marching for. We were able to do something and keep our health center as it is.”

In an announcement Monday, the province said functional planning for the complex is now complete and the project has entered the design phase.

“Alberta Health Services, in collaboration with the Mountview Health Complex Committee, will continue to consult with residents and health professionals as the project progresses,” he said.

An in-person town hall will be held at the Beaverlodge Community Center on December 4 at 6 p.m. to inform the community.