Wembley Medical Clinic's Dr. Angela Luckham (second from right) receives a $10,000 cheque from the Wembley Fire Fighters Association and CNRL as the two donated in support of the clinic (Photo credit: Shane Clausing)

By Shane Clausing

Wembley Medical Clinic

Wembley’s new medical clinic ready to open Tuesday

Jul 29, 2020 | 12:32 PM

The Town of Wembley’s first medical clinic is scheduled to open this Tuesday.

Back in May, Dr. Angela Luckham and her husband Alexander received approval to build their medical clinic next door the Remedy RX Pharmacy along 97 Street.

“It’s really exciting,” said Dr. Luckham. “We have worked hard over the last few months. We’ve had very few hiccups, it’s gone pretty smooth and I think once we open it’ll be a positive thing for the community.”

Dr. Luckham and her husband decided to make the move south to the Peace Country from the Northwest Territories for Alexander’s job as a Medevac pilot, which required him to be within 10 minutes of the airport.”

“We weren’t really that familiar with the area, so we looked on a map prior to moving, found a community that was close enough to the airport to meet his requirements and then came to see Wembley,” said Dr. Luckham.

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Since then, Dr. Luckham says they are both very fond of their new home, but she knew she could fill a void in the community soon upon arrival.

“We really loved it, so we decided to buy a house here and put down some roots. Shortly after we moved, we realized that Wembley does have most of the basic amenities that you need, but was missing a medical presence, so we thought that we could fill that void.”

Dr. Luckham mentioned that the Town of Wembley and Mayor Chris Turnmire were a big help in helping the clinic get started.

“The Town of Wembley, from what we understand, has been really keen on having a medical clinic here for many years. When we moved to town and said that I was a physician and potentially interested in opening a clinic, the mayor and town council was overwhelmingly supportive.”

She adds the clinic received a $50,000 grant from the Town of Wembley to help furnish the new clinic. They also received a $10,000 grant from the County of Grande Prairie earlier this month as part of a physician recruitment and retention program.

“It really is a community clinic and we really couldn’t do this without the support of the Wembley Fire Fighters Association and the Town of Wembley.”

The clinic has also received a big boost from the Wembley Fire Fighters Association and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNRL) as the two donated a $10,000 cheque in support of the clinic.

CNRL and the Fire Fighters Association both said that it was important for them to support a local clinic, which has been much needed in the community.

The clinic is home to five rooms for patients. Four of the rooms are clinic rooms, and are filled with the necessary items such as exam tables, blood pressures machines and thermometers.

One of the four rooms will have specialized equipment which will have barrier free equipment, which means that individuals will be able to have full exams done without having to maneuver themselves onto the exam table. The table actually can become a chair that is much easier for individuals to get on.

The fifth room is called a consult room. The consult room is smaller and doesn’t have an exam table, but is used for counseling, injections and basic clinic appointments.

Four of the clinical rooms have been sponsored. It cost $5,000 to sponsor each room and the proceeds go towards furnishing the rooms with medical supplies and equipment that was needed.

Waiting room at Wembley Medical Clinic. Photo Credit: Shane Clausing

Main hallway at Wembley Medical Clinic. Photo Credit: Shane Clausing

One of four clinical patient rooms inside the Wembley Medical Centre. Photo Credit: Shane Clausing

Doctors offices inside Wembley Medical Clinic. Photo Credit: Shane Clausing

With the clinic set to open on Tuesday, August 4, it will start by only accepting patients from Wembley. It will continue to expand its doors to more patients as the months go on.

Dr. Luckham also said that they should have another physician in the office by the fall, as well as are open to having practicum students working at the clinic in the future.

Updates on the clinic and their progressions can be found at their Facebook page.