MLA Report: A promise kept – Medicine Hat’s maternity clinic is back in place

By Justin Wright on February 25, 2026.

On Jan. 29, 2026, something I promised the people of Cypress-Medicine Hat three years ago became real. The Family Medicine Maternity Clinic at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital opened its doors once more – and is now accepting new referrals.

I have been asked many times over the course of this journey whether we would actually get there. My honest answer was always the same: I don’t know when, but I know we will. Medicine Hat families deserve to welcome their children into the world close to home, surrounded by the community that will help raise them. That conviction didn’t waver – not through budget cycles, not through health system restructuring, not through the many moments when the finish line felt further away than it had the day before.

All three of my own children were born at that clinic before its closure. I know firsthand what it means to have that care nearby – the reassurance it gives a nervous first-time parent, the confidence it provides a mother managing a high-risk pregnancy, the peace of mind that comes from not having to travel hours for an appointment that is happening at one of life’s most tender and unpredictable moments. When the clinic closed, we lost something vital. Getting it back has been one of my most personal commitments as your MLA.

A community partnership making it work

This reopening is the result of a genuine collaboration. Alberta Health Services, Primary Care Alberta, and the Palliser Primary Care Network have partnered to provide space, nursing support, administrative resources, and clinical oversight – so that physicians can focus entirely on patient care. It is exactly the kind of coordinated, practical solution that gets results without adding unnecessary bureaucracy.

I want to be clear about what this clinic is right now: it is an urgent, funded solution that ensures continuity of local prenatal and obstetrical care through March 2027, while those same partners work toward a permanent, sustainable model for Medicine Hat. The work does not stop here. But this is a critical bridge – one that means no expectant mother in our community faces a gap in local care while that longer-term planning unfolds.

The immediate trigger for reopening was the departure of a local family physician who had been providing prenatal care and could no longer take new patients. Rather than allow that gap to widen, our government and its health partners moved quickly. That responsiveness matters – and I am grateful to the ministers, health officials, and local partners who stepped up when it counted.

Part of a larger investment in southern Alberta health

The clinic’s return does not stand alone. It is part of a broader commitment this government has made to health care in Cypress-Medicine Hat and across rural Alberta. Budget 2025 confirmed planning funds for a new Urgent Care Centre here in Medicine Hat – another pledge I have been proud to advocate for. The Alberta Surgical Initiative is bringing more surgical capacity to our region. The Rural Health Action Plan is directing real dollars toward physician training, rural recruitment, and sustainable models of care in communities like ours.

Since 2023, over $305 million in provincial investments have flowed into this riding. More than $70 million of that has gone directly into assisted living and social services. These are not abstract numbers – they are renovated shelter spaces, brain injury programs, flood mitigation infrastructure, and yes, a maternity clinic where a family is receiving care today that they would have had to travel for yesterday.

What this moment really means

In politics, it is easy to make promises. It is harder to keep them – especially when the systems involved are complex, the timelines are long, and the obstacles are real. I am proud that we kept this one. And I am grateful to every constituent who held me to it, every colleague who lent their voice to the cause, and every health professional who believed this community deserved better.

If you or someone you know is expecting and in need of prenatal care, please reach out to your family physician or the Palliser Primary Care Network for a referral to the clinic. The doors are open. The care is here.

And if your organization is looking for help navigating provincial grants and investments – for health, community programs, or anything else – please do not hesitate to contact our constituency office. This is what we are here for.

Justin Wright is the MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat and serves as Chief Government Whip, Military Liaison and Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Health South

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