Even in 1974, the need for addiction treatment in Lloydminster and the area was apparent. Through collaboration between the Lloydminster Hospital Board, the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and local Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) advocates, including Slim Thorpe and Ron Harris Sr., a solution was found. Out of the abandoned Nurses’ Residence rose the Walter A. “Slim” Thorpe Recovery Centre, named after the prominent A.A. advocate and businessman thoroughly integrated into the community.
The Centre opened in 1975 as a 2-bed detoxification unit within the Nurses’ Residence. Through the years, it evolved to accommodate more clients and the demand to treat the root causes of addiction. In 1988, the Centre built a larger facility to accommodate up to 30 clients and developed programming that served the community’s needs until 2012. Further demand for treatment insupired an extensive campaign to build a state-of-the-art facility to provide the best care possible for a greater number of people. Today, operating as the Thorpe Recovery Centre (TRC), the organization rests on 34 acres in the rural hamlet of Blackfoot, Alberta. Just 10km west of Lloydminster this 84-bed facility provides holistic addiction treatment for chemical and process dependencies (drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, and disordered eating). Our programming has developed to coincide with evidence-based research in addiction treatment, culminating in where we are today- treating the individual and their family on four platforms: biological, social, psychological, and spiritual. Although we are constantly growing and changing, our client focus remains the same as it has from day one: they are at the heart of what we do.
