MLA Wright responds to criticisms of urgent care centre proposal at Friends of Medicare town hall

By ZOE MASON on November 8, 2025.

zmason@medicinehatnews.com

Earlier this week, Hatters came out in droves to a Friends of Medicare town hall featuring Dr. Paul Parks. The town hall was part of a series travelling the province to engage Albertans about the changes the UCP government has made to health care.

At the event Tuesday, Parks responded to a question about the diversification of hospital service providers with a criticism of the proposal to build an urgent care centre in Medicine Hat. Parks says an urgent care centre will draw staff and resources away from the hospital, which he says already has empty operating rooms for lack of essential staff.

“Alberta’s government continues to prioritize our frontline health-care workers and ensuring we have the right people in the right places to deliver timely, high-quality care for all Albertans,” said Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Justin Wright in a statement to the News.

Wright, a longtime proponent of the urgent care centre here, says his government remains committed to improving access to care in Medicine Hat, including through the proposed centre.

“This new centre is not intended to compete with the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital but to complement it by relieving pressure on emergency departments. Co-ordination between facilities is essential, and our health service delivery organizations are working to ensure staffing models effectively support both acute and urgent care delivery,” he said.

Parks said Tuesday that no local experts or urgent care physicians were consulted regarding the proposal to instal an urgent care facility in this region.

Wright did not respond to a question about who was consulted regarding the urgent care centre proposal.

The MLA concluded his statement by highlighting the number of physicians in the province.

“Alberta now has more physicians than ever before, with 12,769 registered to practice – an increase of 643 physicians or 5.3 per cent,” he said.

“It does drive me a little bit crazy whenever I hear the government say we’ve got more doctors than ever,” said Parks on Tuesday. “That’s like saying the world is a day older. Every day it gets older, and as our population grows, yes, we have some more doctors. I’m thankful that they’re not plummeting. But where are the doctors, and where are they working?”

Parks says the increase in doctors is not enough to make up for the increase in demand, and without co-ordination across the province, they fail to fill the gaps where they’re needed.

Wright pointed to the province’s Health Workforce Strategy, which he says was developed to optimize existing workforce, improve retention and expand talent supply among specialists and technicians.

The Health Workforce Strategy does not identify an instrument for workforce planning within the health ministries.

According to Wright’s comments in a previous interview, the urgent care centre is currently in the planning and design phase. No location has been identified for the proposed centre.

Clark attends as citizen; holds off comment as mayor

Mayor Linnsie Clark was in attendance at Tuesday’s event.

While the solutions to the problems facing health care in Alberta must mainly originate from the provincial level, Parks said Tuesday there’s action that can be taken at the local level to improve recruiting and retention.

“Part of this is going to be a provincial focused plan saying we need X amount of these types of doctors. But then we really do need to roll out the red carpet, and when families come, make it easier for them to live here, make it easier to work. As the government abdicates their role provincially, we’re going to have to get involved much more locally going forward.”

The News contacted Mayor Clark for comment on this point. She told the News in a statement she was attending the town hall only as a citizen.

“I have not yet had an opportunity to discuss it with my colleagues,” she said. “However, I will note that the city has no direct authority in this matter as it falls under provincial jurisdiction.”

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