Veiner Centre announces new program heading into its 50th anniversary

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on February 4, 2025.

This year the Unison at Veiner Centre is celebrating 50 years since opening in Medicine Hat, and to kick things off officials have announced a new program that will help seniors who want to continue living in their own homes.

Working with the city and province, the Veiner Centre is launching a three-year assistance program called the “Social Prescribing Program,” which will deploy link workers, whose offices are at the Veiner Centre, to the homes of adults who have been referred by the primary care network.

President and CEO of Unison Larry Mathieson said link workers will help seniors develop activities to stay healthy and provide referrals to useful services that can be accessed through the Veiner Centre or other organizations around the region.

“They will go and work with older adults in their homes to reduce barriers for them to be able to stay where they are, so ‘age in place,'” explains Mathieson in a YouTube video recently posted to the Unison for Generations +50 page. “So whether that’s at a seniors lodge or residence or their own home.”

The goal of the program is to help as many seniors live in their home as long as possible, and, as Mathieson explains, allowing seniors to age in their homes has many direct benefits to the community.

“It’s also much more beneficial to taxpayers and the health system as well if the simple things that we might do, and maybe non-medical things we can do … so we are essentially working with the Primary Care Network to help identify those individuals that we could put these social or community supports in place, and that would reduce the likelihood somebody has to go further down that continuum to more restricted care.”

Another program the Veiner Centre launched in 2024, the “Veiner Vintage Transport,” will run in support of the Social Prescribing Program by helping provide those seniors with transportation to essential services, including medical appointments and grocery shopping.

Meals on Wheels

The Veiner Centre is also getting set to launch its month-long annual fundraiser for the Meals on Wheels program that delivers well-balanced, discounted and subsidized meals to seniors at their homes who may need a little extra help due to a variety of reasons, including physical disabilities, illnesses or cognitive impairments.

The March for Meals campaign not only fundraises money for the program, but also raises awareness about the impact Meals on Wheels makes within the community by preparing and delivering 120 meals on average per day, all by volunteers.

“We have a lot of long-term volunteers who have been doing this for some time, so that’s great,” says Mathieson.

Throughout March, the Keg and Medicine Hat Brewing Company each donate $1 per sale of each Meals on Wheels-themed beverage.

As well, the Veiner Centre says several local celebrities will volunteer to deliver meals throughout the month.