Community Consultation on Seniors Services Underway

Medicine Hat – In an effort to better serve our community’s growing seniors’ population, the City of Medicine Hat has started a community consultation process around seniors services.

In August 2016, staff were directed by City Council to examine alternative operating models, along with associated operating costs, as part of the Seniors Centre Development Project.

The annual cost of operating the Veiner and Strathcona Centres is $1.42 million. This community consultation process will help improve the selection and quality of programming offered and determine if an alternate governance and operating model is better positioned to deliver services, and do so in a way which reduces the need for contribution from the tax base.

Throughout the month of December, residents will have several opportunities to share their thoughts, ideas and opinions, through several engagement activities around the community, an online forum (medicinehat.ca/ShapeYourCity), and a survey. Two community consultation sessions have also been scheduled:

•December 12 – Veiner Centre from 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm

•December 17 – Medicine Hat Public Library from 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Everyone is welcome to attend.

“Our goal throughout this process is to be able to shape our service offering to serve more seniors within our community,” said Aaron Nelson, Manager of Community Connections and Support. “In order to do that, we need to sit down with the community to better understand what the needs are.”

Once the community consultation is complete, staff will evaluate the feedback, explore alternative operating models, and subsequently bring a recommendation forward to Council in the spring of 2020.

“We’re going to listen, learn and use the feedback we receive from the community,” said Brian Mastel, Commissioner of Public Services. “Together, we will determine the programming and services that best serve this growing part of our community.”

For more information and to participate in the online forum and survey, visit www.medicinehat.ca/ShapeYourCity.

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For media inquiries, please contact:

Aaron Nelson

Manager, Community Connections and Support

City of Medicine Hat

403.502.8785

Originally published on December 5, 2019.