Riverside Medical is celebrating becoming a finalist for the 2022 Alberta Business Awards of Distinction in the Health and Wellness category.
The clinic is operated by Dr. Rithesh Ram and Dr. Veronique Ram, and is celebrating five years in the community. Rithesh is proud of the accomplishment.
“We were selected as finalists against an intense amount of competition, and are up against competitors that have seemingly unlimited pocketbooks: The City of Grande Prairie, the entire County of Parkland, and a Fortune 500 company,” he said.
Riverside Medical brought a unique model of delivery to Rural Alberta, establishing a Patient Medical Home model clinic.
“As part of our ongoing commitment to being distinguished as a Patient Medical Home, we continue to offer same day and walk-in appointments and have the largest per physician panel of patients within a 150 kilometre radius. Moreover, as a result of our accessibility and inclusivity, we have patients travelling over 200 kilometres for health care visits,” he said.
He adds, even during the height of the pandemic, the clinic thrived while other clinics throughout the province were closing.
“We grew as a business, hiring more staff and taking on new medical providers. Opening our clinic has greatly improved local access to health care and decreased the amount of unnecessary and costly emergency department visits,” he said.
The clinic has also been active in the community, supporting and volunteering for many different causes, and donating to schools and many other community organizations.
It also established Diwali celebrations in the community.
The Alberta Business Awards of Distinction were established in 1992 and were originally presented by the province. Today, the Alberta Chamber of Commerce has taken over the program.
The Canadian Badlands Passion Play won the Arts & Culture Award of Distinction in 2015.
Also nominated in the Health and Wellness category were the City of Grande Prairie, Fluor (Calgary), and Sicurica (Parkland County).
The awards will be presented on June 24 at a ceremony in Edmonton.

Rainfall over the last week has brought much reprieve to Drumheller and surrounding areas after suffering through a drought in 2021, but the deluge of rain has also prompted the province to issue several flood warnings and advisories.
Between Wednesday, June 15 and Thursday, June 16 water levels peaked at nearly 1.75 metres at Drumheller, with a flow rate of about 175 cubic metres per second (cms).
“At this time I have no information being supplied to me that indicates a high water event is imminent,” Director of Protective Services Greg Peters says.
However, he warns “situations can change and be fluid” and he continues to monitor the situation to ensure council and administration can be informed in a timely manner if necessary.
The Mail reported in its May 18 edition the water levels at Gleniffer Reservoir were below average at about 36.3 per cent capacity.
As of Friday, June 17 these levels had risen to about 73 per cent capacity. Outflows at Dickson Dam also increased, from about 16 cubic metres per second (cms) on June 12, to 245 cms as of Friday.
A high streamflow warning issued last week for the Red Deer River, from the Dickson Dam to the Saskatchewan border, has remained unchanged.
As of Friday, June 17, water levels for the Red Deer River at Drumheller peaked at a flow rate of some 363 cms and a depth of about 2.6 metres.
Data between June 17 and June 20 is currently unavailable on the Rivers Alberta app for some areas along the Red Deer River, including Gleniffer Reservoir and at Drumheller. Alberta Environment and Parks is aware of the data outage and are working to resolve the issue.
Mr. Peters says, based on information from Environment Canada, it is estimated the Drumheller Valley received nearly 77 millimetres of rain between June 13 and June 17; an additional 10.7 millimetres of rain fell over the weekend according to Environment Canada.