At that time, CHAA’s earliest not-for-profit voluntary nursing posts and auxiliary hospitals were already well established in under-served areas throughout Alberta. These early CHAA operators had already worked alongside military hospital facilities (the province’s first health care organizations) since arriving in Alberta in the mid-1800s.
Today, CHAA operators continue to be the longest-serving care providers in the province: each of our members has been in this business for between 30 and 160 years. We operate in 50% of all urban municipalities in the province and are often considered the province’s first public health care system.
Not-for-profit...and for so much more...
Our earliest members established Alberta’s first rural nursing stations in the mid-1800s. Ever since, CHAA operators have been recognized as Alberta’s first public health care system — offering not-for-profit, mission-driven service for more than 160 years to those most in need.
80 years strong in Alberta
Christian Health Association of Alberta (CHAA) is Alberta’s longest-serving association in the acute care and continuing care sector. Our doors opened in June 1943 – a month after the end of the Second World War.
At that time, CHAA’s earliest not-for-profit voluntary nursing posts and auxiliary hospitals were already well established in under-served areas throughout Alberta. These early CHAA operators had already worked alongside military hospital facilities (the province’s first health care organizations)since arriving in Alberta in the mid-1800s.
After nearly a century caring for the ill, wounded, and aged, CHAA’s voluntary operators formed an association in 1943, just as the provincial government was beginning to invest in health care infrastructure across the province.
CHAA’s pioneer operators were poised to lead Alberta’s foray into publicly funded Medicare in 1945, which has remained a cornerstone of CHAA values decades later.
Today, CHAA operators continue to be the longest-serving care providers in the province: each of our members has been in this business for between 30 and 160 years. We operate in 50% of all urban municipalities in the province and are often considered the province’s first public health care system.
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Find out why non-profit care is different.
About non-profit care
Being not-for-profit means we can focus on the values and faith that have guided our mission of service for more than a century.
Decades of experience to draw from
While some care homes in Alberta have been in operation for 3-15 years, CHAA’s care homes have between 30 and 165 years of experience. That wealth of experience — through two previous pandemics — helped us mobilize and adapt throughout COVID-19.
Quality of life
Quality of life is largely determined by the sense of family and shared values within facility-based living.