Aria MD Sleep Centre: Helping southeast Edmonton breathe easier
Located within the Stelmach Community Health Centre, Aria MD Sleep Centre brings specialized sleep diagnostic and treatment services to one of Edmonton's fastest-growing communities. Founded by respiratory therapist Danny Abilmona, Aria opened the clinic in February 2026. It is the company's fourth location in the Edmonton area and its first in the city's southeast.
From the ICU to sleep care
Danny's path to sleep medicine started with a detour. After completing a Bachelor of Science at the University of Alberta, he took a year off to travel. During that time, a cousin introduced him to respiratory therapy, and Danny went to a program open house to learn more.
"I went to the open house, checked it out, and thought, 'Wow, I didn't even know this profession existed,'" says Danny. "I'm sure there are a lot of professions we don't even know about, and that was one of them for me."
He enrolled in the respiratory therapy program at NAIT, graduated in 2009 and went to work in intensive care units (ICUs) and emergency departments across Edmonton.
In one of those ICUs, he reconnected with a former University of Alberta classmate who is now an ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon. The two started talking about a private clinic focused on upper airway and sleep health.
Danny opened his first Aria sleep clinic in 2012. For a while, he balanced hospital shifts with the growing business. Eventually, he had to choose.
"There was just a point where I couldn't do both anymore. I needed to pick one or the other," he says. "That's why I'm here now."
Filling a gap in the southeast
Danny first heard about the health centre through his ENT colleague, who flagged it as an unusual opportunity. The Stelmach Community Health Centre was different from anything he'd seen before.
"It was a multidisciplinary facility that really was something I hadn't seen created, especially from a health care standpoint," says Danny.
Aria already had clinics in St. Albert, downtown Edmonton and Old Strathcona. When Danny and his team surveyed the southeast, they found few sleep clinics serving the neighbourhoods around the health centre. The gap was clear.
How sleep diagnostics work
Aria MD Sleep Centre receives referrals from family doctors and specialists. The process starts with a Level 3 sleep test. Patients take a portable monitoring device home and sleep with it overnight. The data then goes to a sleep specialist, who interprets it and makes a diagnosis.
If a patient is diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, the clinic books a follow-up visit to explain the condition and, if appropriate, fit them with a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine. Danny's team checks in throughout the first month, with ongoing follow-up every six months to review treatment and provide support.
"Most people don't really understand sleep apnea," says Danny. "They've heard about it, or they've heard somebody wears a machine. But if the patient doesn't understand what sleep apnea is, they're less willing to use the device."
Education is a big part of how Aria works. Danny says patients who understand their condition stick with treatment longer and get better results.
"We don't make that decision for them," he says. "Give them the right tools and the right overall picture of what they're experiencing. That really helps."
Aria's support continues as patients adjust to treatment, with help addressing mask fit, air leaks, dryness and other concerns that can make CPAP difficult to use comfortably.
For patients who snore but do not have sleep apnea, Aria can help coordinate an ENT referral through their family physician when appropriate. An ENT surgeon can then assess whether a procedure might help, such as shrinking the turbinates (tissue inside the nose) or removing the tonsils.
Collaboration across the building
One of the things that drew Danny to the health centre was the chance to work alongside other providers. He already knew two tenants moving into the building: Masuma Manji at Amplify Hearing Clinic and the team at Visionary Eye Centre.
"I chatted with the optometrist and said, 'There's definitely potential here, because there are conditions that can be related,'" says Danny.
He's also eyeing the outpatient cardiac rehabilitation clinic in the building. Sleep apnea often shows up alongside high blood pressure and heart problems, and Danny sees a chance to connect patients who might not realize their conditions are related.
"They tend to pair up with each other," he says. "Sleep apnea is closely linked with cardiovascular health, which gives us an opportunity to identify patients who may benefit from further assessment."
Sleep apnea doesn’t have one look
Danny believes sleep apnea has always been common but often went undiagnosed. Doctors know more about it now, and patients are more aware, partly because they hear about it from friends and family who already use CPAP machines.
He also pushes back on the assumption that sleep apnea only affects people who are overweight.
"That's a misnomer," he says. "Anatomy is your biggest culprit. I've had people with a BMI under 25 who have severe sleep apnea, and someone who's 220 pounds with none. It's not a one-size-fits-all scenario."
Danny has seen the full range: bodybuilders, law enforcement officers with thick necks and people with large tonsils or tongues. He often talks with referring doctors about less-recognized symptoms, such as waking frequently to urinate at night (nocturia) or unexplained weight gain, that may warrant assessment for sleep apnea.
Sometimes patients come in with symptoms they haven't connected to their sleep. Further assessment can help Aria determine whether sleep apnea is contributing.
"The secondary symptoms appear first, and then we find out the primary reason was sleep apnea," he says.
A different kind of facility
Danny says the health centre stands apart from other multidisciplinary spaces he's seen, both in its design and in how Covenant works with its tenants.
"It’s not your typical sterile look. It actually has some pop to it," he says. "It makes it feel like more than just a hospital or an outpatient facility."
He's also impressed by the community programming, like open house events for the public and high school career expos.
"You don't see that from other sites," says Danny. "They're not just going to be a one-and-done kind of thing. There’s going to be ongoing community engagement here, that’s hard to find.”
For Danny and his team, the goal is to help patients understand their sleep health, feel comfortable with treatment and have ongoing support when they need it.
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