The Eckville community is ecstatic after hearing that its Sylvan Lake neighbour will eventually receive its long-awaited urgent care facility.
Plans are for the facility to serve non-life threatening injuries, and house doctors, X-ray equipment and beds for medical observation. It will also be open every day of the week with some additional hours of operation.
The Town of Eckville was one of several communities that lobbied alongside Sylvan Lake for the facility. Its eventual presence will help fill a massive void in the area, Eckville Mayor Helen Posti feels.
“It’s wonderful,” she said. “It’s really needed.”
The Eckville Hospital closed in 1995, resulting in an overload of work in Red Deer and leaving patients waiting for long periods of time, she added.
The presence of urgent care in Sylvan Lake, she feels, will help alleviate that burden.
“If it’s not a heart attack or something like that, you don't need to go there, so that will be really good for our community,” she said. “If you're a working mother and you come home and your kids are sick, you can take them there rather than to go and sit in Red Deer for hours in emergency. That will free up the emergency in Red Deer and it will make a really big difference.”
Posti said Eckville residents are glad that Sylvan Lake is receiving an urgent care facility, with many of them having attended the public meetings held over the past several years in support of the cause.
“We’re so happy for Sylvan Lake and for all the communities that wanted to see this happen,” she said. “This is absolutely wonderful.”