Sagewood hosts grand opening

Times Reporter

 

Though the Sagewood Seniors Community officially opened its doors a few months ago, March 2 marked the official grand opening. 

Councillors from both the town and Wheatland County were in attendance, along with Minister of Seniors George VanderBurg, MLA Arno Doerkson, and Mayor Steve Grajczyk.

“It’s really exciting, I mean when I think of the history, the community has waited a long time for local accommodation for seniors, and this represents a lot of planning, a lot of commitment from the community to Strathmore,” said Doerkson.

“I can’t say enough about the commitment from the County of Wheatland and the Town of Strathmore to their commitment for developing something that serve our community into the future. This is an exiting day, there have been a few delays along the way but here we are and the future is bright.”

The federal minister and all of the provincial ministers will be meeting in the spring to share best practices. VanderBurg said visiting Sagewood and Meadowlark Senior Care Home and seeing their practices are the things he wants to talk about with the other ministers, while learning some of the things facilities in their jurisdictions have been doing. 

VanderBurg said meeting the people at both Meadowlark and Sagewood is a testimony that the needs are being met, people have a smile on their faces, they are well taken care of, are safe and socially involved. He said the staff is also the testimony he needs, he can see they love going to work and taking care of our parents and grandparents.

“It’s not all the fancy décor, it’s the people and I have to tell you I am very impressed with the facility and the community. To participate here is something very, very special,” said VanderBurg.

“We don’t have this in 365 communities in Alberta, we have this in Strathmore and it’s absolutely amazing for a small community to be able to step up to the plate. I know there were hurdles but there were no hurdles today when we cut that ribbon.”

AgeCare Health Services is looking forward to breaking ground later this year to begin Phase 2 of the Sagewood Seniors Community.