Finding a family physician in St. Albert could soon get a little easier thanks to the Sturgeon Medical Arts Centre announced this week.
The estimated $15- to $18-million development, proposed to be completed in the fall 2013, is located adjacent to the Sturgeon Community Hospital, a location deemed prime for many health care professionals.
“It’s something that I think the citizens want and need,” said Councillor Malcolm Parker. “It’s one of council’s goals and priorities to have something like this so I feel really quite happy the way it’s progressed.”
Attracting family physicians to the community has been a focus for council, prompting the creation of the physician attraction task force last year. A needs assessment conducted confirmed more physicians were needed in the community.
“The need is very strong and it’s a real benefit to the community to be able to have that because it won’t be just St. Albert, but the surrounding areas as well that will be affected,” Parker said, adding it will also provide an economic benefit to the city in terms of tax revenues.
After consulting a number of development companies, the task force members chose NorthWest Property Corporation (NWPC) to spearhead the development.
NWPC is a specialized company focused specifically on developing medical buildings across the country. This is the first development in St. Albert.
“It’s a very vibrant community and there was an opportunity here,” said Terry Schmitt, vice president of development with NWPC.
He said there is an obvious need for family physicians in the community – not unlike many other communities – and said attracting between 15 and 20 to the facility would be considered a success.
The development isn’t limited to family doctors and could house things like medical labs, specialists, chiropractors, pharmacies and even a coffee shop.
Schmitt said this development will likely be a success due to the close proximity to the hospital.
“The properties that we own close to hospitals over the long term were always very successful,” he said. “The closer you are, the higher probability of success you’re going to have in the long haul.”
The empty parcel of land sits directly west of the hospital, between the Shoppers Drug Mart and the emergency room entrance. The proposed 60,000-square-foot, three-storey development is smaller than typical NWPC developments.
Schmitt said the location doesn’t leave much space for ground-level parking and has forced the company to go underground, which is an added cost. It is, however, more attractive to prospective tenants, he said.
Before development can begin, roughly 50 per cent pre-leasing is required. Schmitt said there is interest in the development and said he expects to release tenant details in 60 to 90 days.
“It’s pretty early in the game right now,” he said. “There’s certainly a lot of curiosity from the people that we’ve spoken to so far.”
Although the focus of the physician attraction task force is to attract more doctors to the community, existing doctors will not be deterred from relocating to the Sturgeon Medical Arts Centre.
Parker said, however, that St. Albert’s high quality of life makes the community an ideal place for new doctors to start a practice, adding this building will provide an added incentive.
