Red Deer Minute: Anesthesiologist Shortage, Air Show, and a Fourth Library Branch

Red Deer Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Red Deer politics

This Week In Red Deer:

• This morning, at 10:30 am, there will be a Regular Meeting of City Council. On the agenda are three reports - one regarding the Red Deer Recovery Summit, a Sponsorship Policy Update, and another titled Community Informed: Diversity and Inclusion Plan. Council will then proceed to a closed meeting to receive a verbal report on the permanent shelter, consider a land matter, and discuss the Code of Conduct matter. The meeting will end with a public hearing at 5:00 pm regarding a zoning change that would allow Points West to build another senior living facility beside their current seniors residence on Taylor Drive.
  
  
• Beginning this morning, both directions of traffic on 19 Street will use the westbound lanes from 40 Avenue to Irwin Avenue so that construction can begin on the eastbound lanes. Also, beginning tomorrow, the 19 Street and 49 Avenue intersection will be closed to left turns. More information about the full 19 Street Improvement Project is available on the City’s website.
  
  
• This weekend, the Red Deer Regional Air Show will take place at the Red Deer Regional Airport. The impressive line up includes the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, an RCAF CF-18 Hornet Tactical Demonstration, the Canadian Forces SkyHawks Parachute Demonstration Team, Historic Warbird Flypasts, Pylon Air Racing Demonstrations, and more! There is a full festival on the grounds as well, with many family-friendly events. Tickets are $70.56 per carload, and can be purchased online.

Last Week In Red Deer:

• Council held a special closed meeting to internally investigate a Code of Conduct matter. This marks the first time Council has conducted such an investigation on its own. Notably, this is the fourth Code of Conduct complaint since 2021, and the combined cost of the first three complaints amounted to $144,632 due to the use of an external investigator. Council spent three-and-a-half hours discussing the matter, but specific details about the nature of the violation and the identity of the involved Councillor have not been disclosed yet. It is anticipated that the full report containing these details will be released later today.
  
  
• The Red Deer Hospital was back in the news as surgeries are being delayed due to a lack of anesthesiologists. One local anesthesiologist explained that Red Deer currently has half of the anesthesiologists that it should have for a hospital this size. Canada as a whole has far fewer anesthesiologists for every 100,000 people than other countries. Local MLA Adriana LaGrange was recently named the Health Minister, and her new mandate letter included a directive from Premier Danielle Smith to reduce wait times, deal with any surgical backlog, and work on recruitment and retention of medical professionals.
  
  
• The Red Deer Public Library announced a fourth branch at the Collicutt Centre, located at 3031 30 Avenue. The new branch will open at the end of August, for a one-year pilot. The location will be a smaller space, about 600 square feet, and will house a small collection as well as serving as a pickup point for transfers from other branches. After a year of operations, the success of the branch will be evaluated and library officials will look at a more permanent arrangement.

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