Medicine Hat’s Ridge Medical Centre named Alberta’s top family practice for 2026

“To have the Ridge Medical Centre chosen as the 2026 Patient-Medical Home Outstanding Family Practice Award is an honour and is humbling,” Mohanraj said.

The clinic has expanded its capacity in recent years, adding nearly 1,500 previously unattached patients, including newcomers to Canada and refugees.

Mohanraj said the clinic aims to provide a welcoming environment for patients from different backgrounds and with varying language and cultural needs.

The Ridge uses a team-based model that brings together family physicians, nurses, behavioural health counsellors and medical office assistants.

It also works with the Palliser Primary Care Network on quality improvement and evaluating patient care.

Mohanraj said family physician-led teams are an important part of addressing broader challenges in Alberta’s health-care system, including overcrowded emergency departments and pressure on acute care.

“Continuity and timely access to the medical home is a big part of the answer to Alberta’s health needs,” Mohanraj said.

Alberta Minister of Primary and Preventative Health Services and Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Justin Wright said the clinic demonstrates the importance of putting patients first.

“Family medicine is the foundation to a strong province. Is the foundation to primary care,” Wright said.

He said the clinic’s approach reflects the need for patients to have access to trusted family physicians supported by a wider team of health professionals.

“It shows at its simplest core that team-based care works,” Wright said.

“You’re seeing the impact that Dr. Mohanraj and his team have put in place here to make sure that the right care is being delivered by the right professional at the right time and how that’s really rolled out,” he added.

“Now they’ve won a provincial award for it because it works.”

Wright said the recognition could encourage other clinics to adopt similar practices.

“You don’t win a prestigious award like this without people noticing the work that you’re getting done,” Wright said.

“Also, why we brought out the 10 million dollar innovation grant that helps people just like the folks here at The Ridge to take their ideas and scale them up in a real tangible way that can impact health care across the province.”

Wright also pointed to the importance of prevention, earlier intervention and chronic disease management in helping patients stay healthy rather than relying on treatment after they become ill.

The provincial government recently announced a $10-million Primary Care Innovation Fund to help bring forward and expand ideas from primary care providers.

Applications are due Nov. 2.

Wright said the fund could help clinics like the Ridge expand successful approaches beyond their own communities.

“This is a way that we can help support folks just like The Ridge here to make sure that the good ideas don’t just stay in one community or one clinic that they’re able to be scaled up across the province,” Wright said.

He also pointed to the province’s efforts to expand health professionals’ scopes of practice, noting that 26 of 28 medical colleges have proposed expansions to support team-based care and better support physicians.

“It does allow them the ability to bring on some of the most absolutely comprehensive teams possible to deliver better outcomes for all burdens, and that’s really the crux of it,” Wright said.

by Jett Schwaier

Medicine Hat’s Ridge Medical Centre named Alberta’s top family practice for 2026

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