(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

only transit affected... for now

Service disruptions at City of Red Deer due to rising staff illnesses

Jan 11, 2022 | 11:24 AM

The City of Red Deer is advising citizens of service disruptions caused by a steep rise in staff illness.

These disruptions may stretch over the course of several weeks, as the City notes the inability to differentiate symptoms between a regular cold or flu and COVID-19.

“Our priority is to have staff stay home when sick and take care of themselves until they’ve recovered fully, whether they have COVID-19 or not,” says Tara Lodewyk, Interim City Manager. “As a municipality, we have the responsibility to maintain a certain level of critical services to the community, and as of today, there are service impacts to Transit due to staffing shortages caused by illness. We continue to monitor the situation daily with all services we provide in the community.”

Starting January 12, transit will be operating on reduced service after 7:45 p.m. Monday to Saturday with the exception of the Route 1 Rapid Bus and Route 12 for Gasoline Alley connecting at Bower Mall.

Dynamic Shuttle Service will once again be offered beginning at 8 p.m., taking riders from Sorensen Station to their bus stop of choice within the city. There will be no impact to school routes or the Action Bus. Transit users are encouraged to visit The City’s site, the Transit app or call 403-342-8225 to help plan your trip.

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The City is also redeploying staff on a temporary basis, where necessary. Where this isn’t an option, some staff will take on extra hours to maintain critical services, such as Emergency Services, Water and Wastewater, and Electric Light & Power.

“While staff may need to work additional hours, we are also acutely aware that burnout can happen, and we need to protect our staff’s health – mental, physical and emotional,” says Lodewyk. “With increasing staff absences, we are continually monitoring what services are absolutely required, and how our staff can maintain them.”

rdnewsNOW received an anonymous phone call from an individual claiming to be a City worker, alleging the service disruptions are due in part to lower staff levels after the dismissal of non-compliant employees of the City’s immunization policy. The individual further alleged that employees who presented exemptions allowed for by the Government of Alberta, were also refused by the City.

Tracy Bruce, Human Resources Manager for the City of Red Deer, responded to the individual’s allegations with the following statement:

“We can confirm that service disruptions announced for Transit are in no way related to The City of Red Deer’s Employee Immunization Policy, and 100 per cent due to staff off for illness. With the inability to differentiate symptoms between a regular cold or flu and COVID, any staff member who experiences symptoms must stay home and follow City process as well as provincial isolation requirements.”

“A very small number of City staff chose not to submit immunization records or participate in rapid antigen testing and have been unable to work and unpaid since that time. The City has been working closely with this small group of employees who have chosen to not comply since the implementation of the policy.”

“Out of respect for our staff, their specific situations, and their confidentiality The City is unable to provide any further details. When developing the policy, we did our very best to honour and respect the preferences of individuals without compromising the health and safety of our organization and our community.”

Mayor Ken Johnston calls the rise of cases in Red Deer alarming.

On Monday, new Alberta Health statistics show Red Deer with a record high of 1,002 active COVID cases. The previous high was 915 on Sept. 27, at the peak of the fourth wave.

“We all need to do our part in reducing the spread to protect ourselves and safeguard our healthcare system,” says Mayor Johnston. “We can’t predict how this wave will impact each individual, so we all need to take the necessary steps to protect ourselves; stay home when sick, mask up in public places, sanitize, and get immunized. It’s not just a one-step process, it’s several simple steps that work together to keep us safe, and it’s up to all of us to do it.”

The City says it will share information about further service disruptions through several mediums. Red Deerians are encouraged to register for Notify Red Deer at www.reddeer.ca/notify.