Seniors rally for reopening of Veiner Centre

“I believe I’m a fairly responsible adult. I know how to wash my hands. I know how to social distance. Wear a mask. So if kids can go back to school why the heck can’t the Veiners centre open for us seniors? ” Houff added.

The rally was organized by Michele Winger who told CHAT News Today she would like to see greater communication and clarity from the city in regards to the future of the facility.

“There’s been nothing from the city about what they are doing to get us back in there short term, and with the RFP out in public, I’m also wondering what the long term plans are. I don’t know what the city’s real intent is with the Veiner centre, and whether we are actually going to have it in the future” said Winger.

Brian Mastel, Public Services Commissioner with the City of Medicine Hat says many factors are at play when considering the reopening of facilities like the Veiner centre.

“There are three lenses that we apply to all the spaces that we relaunch, so we look at the ability to welcome patrons safely and maintain operations that are safe for staff and we have pretty good guidance from Alberta Health on that front and have seen what others have done. I think we can accommodate some of the programming, not all of the programming safely at the Veiner Centre,” he said.

Aside from the ability to reopen safely, the ability to maintain operations consistently in the event of an outbreak also factors in.

“ When I think about the Veiner Centre, it’s a space that is not operational yet, doing that in a heightened risk environment is probably not the wisest time to reopen a space. But we also operate our Meals on Wheels program out of that space so that program is relied upon quite heavily from many people inside the community, that rely on our ability to make and deliver meals and having a virus move through that venue and potentially affect our kitchen staff could compromise our ability to deliver that service,” Mastel said.

The financial cost of reopening a facility is also something the city considers. The annual operational costs for the Veiner Centre is around $1.42 million.

“We have to weigh what is the demand from the community relative to the work required for us to open up the space,” said Mastel.

No definite date has been set for the reopening of the Veiner centre but the city said they are watching the COVID-19 infection rate as part of their assessment.

“ Alberta health has been indicating that they expect if there is an increase in virus transmissions through the reintroduction of students into schools and recreation that they would anticipate it peaks mid-October so I’m very much watching the next couple weeks,” said Mastel.

It’s a wait that for some seniors at the rally is too long to bear.

“ I know how to wash my hands. I know how to wear a mask. What else is there that’s going to change anything? We are grown-ups. We are adults, and we can either choose not to go if we are that fearful. If we are not that fearful, we know how to look after ourselves, why can’t we?” said Houff.

As for the request for proposals that went out last month for a new operator for the Veiner Centre and Meals on Wheels program, Mastel said the RFP closed late last week and the city is in the evaluation process for the proposals.

by Tiffany Goodwein

Seniors rally for reopening of Veiner Centre

Our Community