Red Deer Minute: Open Letter, Doctor Shortage, and Downtown Market Lease

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

This Week In Red Deer:

• Tomorrow, at 10:30 am, there will be a City Council meeting. Council will begin the meeting in a closed (secret) session where they will discuss the big files they have been working on - a permanent shelter, the overdose prevention site, and the City’s relationship with Westerner Park. No public update from Council is expected on any of those items. Council will then discuss whether or not the Red Deer Downtown Market should have their lease to use the Servus Arena parking lot renewed. The Red Deer Curling Center has asked that the Market be moved out of the parking lots, while the Market has argued that they should be allowed to stay as they have been there for over 25 years.
  
  
• On Wednesday, the Municipal Planning Commission will meet. No time or agenda has been posted yet.
  
  
• Happy Family Day to everyone! If you need some suggestions for what to do today, there are lots of events still going on across Red Deer and Central Alberta.

Last Week In Red Deer:

• The region’s health care challenges were back in the news last week. It was reported that there wasn’t even a single family doctor of the 93 doctors connected to Red Deer’s Primary Care Network accepting new patients. The Province cited recent statistics that the Central Zone as a whole has gained doctors in the last year, and noted that recruitment is ongoing.
  
  
• The City of Red Deer opened up the Community Culture Development Fund - Opportunities Category - for applications. A total of $20,000 is available this year, with a maximum of $3,000 per application. The Opportunities funding is intended for not-for-profit organizations that deliver arts, culture, and heritage initiatives in Red Deer who need money for short-notice or one-time costs.
  
  
• Minister of Infrastructure and Deputy Premier, Nathan Neudorf, sent an open letter to Red Deer media about the Red Deer Hospital Expansion. He thanked the community for their continued interest in the project, reiterated that the complex planning work is ongoing, and shared that the project will be moving to the design phase soon.

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