Fonds 683 Grande Prairie Public Health Unit No. 20 fonds

Grande Prairie Public Health Unit No. 20. — 1955 – 1996. — 10 cm of textual records.

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Agency History

The Grande Prairie Health Unit No. 20 was established by a provincial order in council in November of 1952. In January 1953, after a query from the Town of Grande Prairie regarding health care services in the area, the Department of Health notified the town of the decision by letter about the new health unit. At that time, the Unit included the Town of GP; Spirit River; Beaverlodge, Wembley, and Hythe; County of GP; and Improvement Districts 32 and 34. The existing health unit at Spirit River was dissolved. The board consisted of one representative from each ward. The original representative for the Town of Grande Prairie was councilor Lief Frantzen, the head of the Grande Prairie Health Committee. On 1 April 1953, the Grande Prairie Health Unit No. 20 officially commenced work.

Initially, the Unit focused efforts on public health particularly in schools and administering inoculations for infectious diseases, and public sanitation including water and sewage concerns, garbage clean-up, and food safety. As the units gained staff and experience, and the public became more aware of their work, efforts expanded into maternal care, dental care, speech therapy, addictions care, senior care, nutrition, health education, and increased efforts in public sanitation and environmental health. From an initial staff of 7, mainly nurses, the Director and Medical Officer, the Sanitary Officer, and the Steno Clerk, the Unit grew to over 50 staff with regional offices in Beaverlodge, Spirit River, and Valleyview.

Over the years, the Unit was known as the Grande Prairie Health Unit no. 20; the South Peace Health Unit; and Mistahia. The provincial government dismantled the regional groups in 2009, replacing them with a superboard, the Alberta Health Services.

Sources:
Schartner, Adelaide. Health Units of Alberta, Co-op Press: Edmonton, 1982.
510.11.22 Reference files
Minutes for the Grande Prairie Health Unit No. 20

Custodial History

These items were part of Isabel Campbell’s reference files originally donated in 2013. The items were reorganized into their own fonds after a reference file reorganization project.

Scope and Content

This fonds contains records related to the Grande Prairie Public Health Unit No. 20. These records contain information about various aspects of public health including sanitation inspections, dental programs, school programs, and environmental health for northwestern Alberta.

These records consist of an incomplete series of reports. There are thirty booklets and they reflect the changes in the name and mandate of the unit over the years.

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