The Town of Sundre is exploring a public-private partnership to replace its aging Myron Thompson Health Centre, with hopes of bringing a proposal to the Alberta government in 2027.

Mayor Richard Warnock says the town is pursuing a model that would see a development partner arrange construction of a new health-care facility, which would then be leased to the province over an agreed period.

The approach, he says, is intended to help Sundre secure a replacement sooner than it might through the province’s traditional capital funding process.

The Myron Thompson Health Centre was built in 1966 and opened in 1968. Warnock says the province itself has acknowledged the building is failing and needs to be replaced, citing maintenance and structural concerns.

“It’s fairly old and we’re having issues with it,” Warnock said, pointing to needed repairs to washrooms and boiler rooms.

The town began discussions with the province about the public-private partnership, or P3, model earlier this year. Warnock says Alberta Health Services and Assisted Living Alberta have also expressed support for exploring the proposal.

The town is now seeking a development partner through a request for proposals. Warnock says the process is expected to close in November, with the aim of giving the working group direction in 2027.

The proposed Sundre Health Campus would replace the Myron Thompson Health Centre.

Warnock says the town hopes to build on Sundre’s existing role in rural health-care training, potentially establishing an expanded campus of care for rural Alberta.

The model is based on a similar arrangement in Beaverlodge, where the Mountview Health Complex is under construction. The project broke ground in May 2025, with the facility expected to open in 2027.

In Beaverlodge, a town-owned company is overseeing the project, with Alberta Health Services leasing and operating the facility.

Under the same P3 model being considered for Sundre, the province would pay for the building over a lease term rather than fund the full construction cost upfront, Warnock said. He expects a lease could run for about 30 years, similar to the Beaverlodge arrangement.

However, the proposal has drawn criticism from the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), which argues that the P3 approach could be risky and delay the replacement.

In a recent statement, AUPE vice-president Andrew Wilson said the union supports the need for a new hospital but opposes having a private developer build it through a P3 arrangement.

The union points to other health-care projects such as the Red Deer Regional Hospital ambulatory care building that have been cancelled and warns that outsourcing maintenance, food services and environmental services could put 20 to 30 local jobs at risk.

Warnock says the P3 model is not private or two-tier health care.

“This is not a private hospital,” he said. “Alberta Health Services will be the anchor tenant the same way they are supplying the services in the Sundre Myron Thompson Health Centre today.”

Warnock says the town has researched the Beaverlodge model in detail and believes it could offer another way to deliver health-care infrastructure in Alberta.

He adds that if the proposal proves unworkable or does not receive provincial support, the town hopes Sundre will remain on the province’s list for a new hospital.

No final timeline has been established for the project, but Warnock says council supports continuing to explore the model.