New disc golf course brings alternative recreation to Alberta Hospital Edmonton

Tim Plamondon, Edmonton Disc Golf Association president, said feedback from the new course at the Alberta Hospital Edmonton grounds has been overwhelmingly positive. (CTV News Edmonton/Matt Marshall)

The Alberta Hospital Edmonton is home to a new disc golf course, helping patients incorporate nature and sport into their recovery process.

The Niska Paskwahk course is an 18-hole disc golf course that winds around the Alberta Hospital Edmonton (AHE), a psychiatric facility in northeast Edmonton.

Installed earlier this summer, the course was built with donations from the Edmonton Disc Golf Association (EDGA) and the Mental Health Foundation.

"It was really important to us, our mission is to be ambassadors, to be inclusive and to be engaging and this kind of filled every one of those buckets," said EDGA president, Tim Plamondon.

A former club member approached him and explained how the grounds would be a great location for a course, he said, adding the plan made too much sense to not approach AHE about building a course, with hoops and discs donated by EDGA.

Like most people, Plamondon said, staff were slightly confused when he told them he wanted to install a disc golf course.

"Then you explain to them how accessible it is and how inclusive it is and how it just benefits well-being so much, and everyone just instantly gets on board," he added.

The course is open to patients, their families, staff and EDGA members. It's something Linsdey Pearson, with AHE, said helps create community connections and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health.

She said that learning a new sport, socializing with peers and getting moving also benefits patients, and the grounds are a great place to interact with nature – including the course's namesake.

"Niska Paskwahk is Cree and translates to goose meadows," Pearson said, adding the birds are a regular fixture during the spring and fall months.

"When we were talking to patients and staff about naming the disc golf course, it was really important to people to be able to acknowledge the land that Alberta Hospital is on and the various wildlife that we share the space with."