How the Stelmach Community Health Centre got its name
Covenant's newest healthcare site in southeast Edmonton has a name: the Stelmach Community Health Centre. It honours Ed and Marie Stelmach, an Alberta couple whose work in health care and community life matches the values local residents say matters most.
The centre was built as part of the first phase of the Covenant Wellness Community development in the Lakewood area of Mill Woods. It brings together a range of health services in one place and will keep growing to add more clinics and wellness services in the years ahead.
Covenant chose the name through a community process that ran over several months. The aim was a name that suited the centre's purpose, respected the history of the area and stayed true to Covenant's mission and Catholic identity.
The work began by asking the community what it valued. Four in-person sessions brought together Indigenous community members, faith partners, local residents, community groups, staff and volunteers. An online survey added another 117 responses. People were not asked to choose a name. Instead, they shared the ideas and feelings they hoped a name would carry.
Three themes came up again and again. The first was care, compassion and wellness: a place that treats the whole person with dignity and kindness. The second was belonging and welcome. "Community" was the word people used most often, a nod to Mill Woods and the many cultures that call it home. The third was hope and new beginnings, or a place for healing and fresh starts.
A naming committee then reviewed what the community shared. Members had sat in on the engagement sessions, so they could use what they heard to guide their work. They weighed each option against Covenant's mission and values, how clear and easy the name was to use and how well it would last over time. The committee also asked whether a name could honour people whose lives showed those same values. Covenant's board of directors then made the final decision.
The Stelmach name was a strong fit. As a boy, Ed Stelmach experienced Catholic health care firsthand, and it shaped how he viewed care for the rest of his life. "They did more than care for my leg," he has said. "They cared for me." He went on to a career in public service that included serving as Alberta's premier from 2006 to 2011. He also gave more than 15 years to Covenant's board of directors, where he served as board chair and helped guide the organization through years of growth and change.
Marie Stelmach shared those values through her work in education, family life and volunteering, often by helping people feel welcome and supported. The couple's ties to Alberta go back generations. Their family farm near Andrew, Alberta, has been in the family since 1898 and speaks to a life built on hard work, faith and service to others.
The values the community pointed to — care, belonging and hope — are the same ones seen in the Stelmach family's story. That is what made the name feel right.
The care, services and access offered at the centre have not changed. On June 23, Covenant unveiled the name at a ribbon-cutting and welcomed the community to the Stelmach Community Health Centre.
Inside the engagement process
For more on how the name was chosen, read our report back to the community, What we heard: Naming the Stelmach Community Health Centre. It covers the engagement sessions, the online survey, the themes that came forward and how they connect to the Stelmach family's legacy.