10/01/2026
**Rural communities asked: what would it take to train healthcare workers here?
Survey open to residents of Consort, Oyen and Hanna until October 31
From Crisis to Capacity: Rural Healthcare Access, Education & Workforce Pathways is a regional initiative led by the Consort & District Medical Centre Society, in partnership with the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), and is supported by the Special Areas Board, local healthcare partners, and community representatives from Consort, Hanna, and Oyen. It is funded by a $35,000 Community Impact Award from the Community Foundation of Southeastern Alberta.
The project responds to a reality rural communities know well: when healthcare staffing is unstable, the whole community is affected. Recruitment incentives and temporary fixes have not created the long-term healthcare stability our communities need.
The premise is straightforward. People who grow up rurally are far more likely to work rurally and stay. But the path into almost any healthcare career currently requires leaving — moving to cities like Edmonton or Calgary for several years. For some people that's not possible. There are kids, a mortgage, a farm, a spouse whose job is here. Others leave and don't come back.
"We've spent years investing more and more money in “rural incentives” to try and convince people to move here," said Amy Deagle, a registered nurse and the project's lead. "This project flips the script and starts asking “how can we make healthcare careers more accessible and attractive to the people who already live here? Instead of recruitment incentive crisis spending, what if we invested in building our local capacity?".
The project is examining whether modern simulation and virtual learning technology could support healthcare training and education locally, and what assessing what technology can realistically be supported in Consort, Oyen or Hanna.
Phase 1 will gather community input and work with NAIT to assess local healthcare education needs, priority workforce roles, simulation and virtual training options, and practical pathways for students, adult learners, career changers, and existing healthcare workers. The final plan will help the region make stronger decisions about future investments, partnerships, and Phase 2 implementation.
Before any of that can be planned, the project needs to know what people in these communities actually think — which is where the public comes in.
How do we help local people become the healthcare workforce our region needs?
We want to hear from people in Consort, Oyen, Hanna, the Special Areas, and the MD of Acadia - whether you work in healthcare or not. Your input will help shape a practical, community-informed plan for building rural healthcare capacity close to home.
Four surveys opened on October 1 and will remain open until October 31. They are aimed at high school students, people currently working in healthcare, community members, and people who grew up in the area and have since moved away. Each takes roughly ten minutes.
The surveys ask what people know about healthcare careers, what has stood in the way of pursuing one, and what supports — financial, educational, practical — would make a difference. Residents who have never worked in healthcare are specifically encouraged to respond.
"You don't need a background in healthcare to answer this, survey" Deagle said. "If anything, we need the people who've felt like a career in healthcare wasn’t an option for them. We want to know what those barriers are.”
Responses will be analyzed by NAIT alongside regional workforce data. The resulting plan is intended to identify which healthcare roles would most improve service stability, what training could realistically be delivered locally, and what would be required to make it happen — work that will inform future funding applications and partnerships.
Surveys are available online at rural-healthcare.ca/c2c-consort, or by scanning the QR code below.
Once on the Consort page, please select the survey that most applies to you.
Paper copies are available locally at: Village of Consort, Special Areas Building, Consort Seniors Lodge, Consort Pharmacy, Consort Post Office
Posters with a QR code are also available at the above locations.
The project covers Consort, Oyen, Hanna, the Special Areas and the MD of Acadia. Surveys close October 31.
