Medicine Hat Minute: School Disruptions, Dispatch Action, and Aurora Facility Delisted

Medicine Hat Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Medicine Hat politics

This Week In Medicine Hat:

• There is a Regular Medicine Hat City Council meeting today at 6:30 pm. The meeting will begin in-camera before reverting to an open format where Council will receive a number of reports from various committees meetings held in early January.
  
  
• On Thursday, there will be a meeting of the Energy And Infrastructure Committee at 3:30 pm. The Municipal Services Business Support Manager will provide a presentation on the HAT Smart program, designed to help residents save money through energy-efficient home upgrades. Strategic planning will also be undertaken as it relates to environmental stewardship.
  
  
• An email sent to parents from the Medicine Hat Public School Division hints at school interruptions as a result of teacher absences. The email in question suggests that the current wave of the pandemic may prove to be the most difficult, as the School Division no longer receives updates from Alberta Health Services regarding positive cases of COVID-19. With just over 8% of the current teaching staff absent with COVID-related symptoms, it seems like a given that some classes, grades, or entire schools will close.

Last Week In Medicine Hat:

• One of the highest-profile pieces of real estate in Medicine Hat’s history, the vacant 1.7 million square-foot Aurora Cannabis facility, is no longer on the market. The vacant greenhouse and processing facility was advertised through Collier’s real estate service last winter but has since been taken down.
  
  
• The Medicine Hat Fire Department has decided to take action against the ongoing code red situation in Alberta, opting to time how long it takes for local paramedics to respond to a call. According to the union that represents paramedics in the city, Medicine Hat saw at least five code red instances in a two-week span where paramedics were unable to respond.
  
  
• Hatters should expect possible inventory shortages at pharmacies across the city in the coming weeks. The shortage doesn’t just apply to Medicine Hat. Operational challenges at a wholesale provider for pharmacies are expected to create disruptions all across southern Alberta. The wholesaler says it is also being challenged by COVID-19 related staff shortages and a change in transport partners.

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