A Christina Lake organization’s contribution to a Grand Forks medical clinic is being viewed through an economic development lens.
Tracey MacGregor, the economic and community development manager for the Christina Gateway Community Development Association, said the organization is providing a little over $18,000 toward the partnership with the City of Grand Forks and rural Boundary regional district directors.
The money is covering the clinic’s fixed operating costs in an agreement that has now been extended through May 2027. It’s intended to attract and retain medical staff, who both practice at the clinic and Boundary Hospital. A nurse practitioner joined the clinic in May, in addition to a doctor who started earlier in the year. Other medical staff are also expected.
MacGregor said access to primary care is one of the “core pillars” for attracting citizens and businesses to the community.
“It seems like a natural fit to be able to cement that pillar in place so that we can continue on with citizen and investment and business attraction to our community,” she said.
“It gives us a bit of an advantage to be able to say to those looking for a more rural lifestyle that not only can you have that here, but one of the biggest concerns you may have, around your primary care opportunities, is actually solved.”
MacGregor said Gateway’s contribution came out of conversations with the area’s RDKB director, Grace McGregor. The organization’s funding comes primarily from the RDKB, supplemented by grants, including those from the Economic Trust of the Southern Interior. In the case of the medical clinic, the money came directly from Gateway’s economic development budget.
The organization is looking at the clinic as a pilot opportunity, MacGregor added, and she hopes it will result in more Christina Lake residents having a primary caregiver.
The Grand Forks Medical Clinic is located at 7486 2nd Street and has five full-time physicians and one nurse practitioner.
