Hall’s environmental sustainability manager sees plenty of reason for optimism

How does a rapidly growing community where natural resources impact the local economy find balance between responsible sustainability and economic growth? You take it one day at a time.

Providing a clean, sustainable quality of life for Parkites has been the focus of Luke Cartin, environmental sustainability manager for City Hall, as he helps guide Park City toward the ambitious climate goals of a net-zero carbon footprint and to use 100% renewable electricity communitywide by 2030. 

The Park Record spoke with Cartin about the unique challenges Park City and other mountain resort towns face due to growth, labor shortages, the pandemic and more as they confront climate change. He discussed the “bold actions” City Hall is prepared to take to ensure Park City remains a leader in environmental innovation and economic sustainability.  

Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

The Park Record: Tell us about the progress Park City has made with the solar farm project in Tooele County that will provide renewable energy for the Park City area. 

Luke Cartin: That is done in partnership with the Summit County government, Salt Lake City government, Park City Mountain Resort, Deer Valley and Utah Valley University. We all got together and ended up selecting an 80 megawatt solar farm on the western side of the Great Salt Lake. It’s being built right now. So that’s a huge win for government operations.  

Also in 2019, I helped author and also pass H.B. 0411, the Utah Community Renewable Energy Act, which created the Utah Community Renewable Energy Agency to administer the Utah Community Renewable Energy program. There are 15 jurisdictions that are currently all working towards 100% renewable electricity by 2030, including big players like Salt Lake City and Ogden to small towns like Alta and Springdale.  

We’re working on a program that we’re going to jointly submit with Rocky Mountain Power to the Public Service Commission. If successful, people will be automatically enrolled into the 100% Renewable by 2030 Program, and you have the option opt out if you want. 

TPR: How do you define sustainability as you move forward with these strategies? 

LC: Sustainability is something to thrive with. The thought is, how can we use this to not only lessen our impacts but actually use it to help our communities thrive? 

Right now, we’re trying to figure out how to get the entire historic downtown to being a zero-waste destination in the next few years. We think we can pull that off. We’re trying to figure out how we can make it better to move around this community. Also, I work with trails and the open space team to discuss how can we not only just have the lands with a couple of mountain biking trails, but how can we make them more resilient, so when a wildfire hits, it won’t decimate our town. 

We are steering our economy from the traditional way to a more sustainable and truly regenerative way. That’s why we work with ranchers in water quality and soil sequestration, for example. And I get to work with other mountain communities on best practices because we’ve decided we’re going to step up and start trying to figure this out. As communities, we can figure out these problems better than waiting for federal legislation. We have a lot of different tools that haven’t been tapped on this, so let’s figure out how to bring them into the fray.

When you look at the electric buses in our transit system, for example, we’ve hosted everyone from, and including, the Department of Energy to major cities that have come to look. These things aren’t just a theoretical thing. Instead, other visiting cities see these ideas are in action in our cold, hilly climate.  

There’s a lot of things ongoing here. We believe Park City can be the testbed to show how to do new things effectively, truthfully and cost effectively, as well. It includes just trying things out to understand what works for our small community in Utah — the second most conservative state in the country — to see how we can help affect national and international sustainability.

TPR: You work closely with local nonprofits like Recycle Utah and the Park City Community Foundation, but do you ever collaborate with other cities?

I co-founded something called Mountain Towns 2030, and the goal is simple. Mountain communities like ours share similar experiences and challenges. When you consider the Breckenridges, Aspens, Jacksons and Laramies of the world, between all these collective communities, we probably have the brainpower to figure out ideas and solutions faster than anyone else. For instance, there are other communities that are already trying new things like microtransit. We have it happening in Summit County. Well, it’s also happening in Jackson. Let’s talk about it. 

There’s a food waste residential compost pilot program going on in Durango and Vail. Let’s go learn about it. We have access to someone who’s likely a subject matter expert, so we can talk to other mountain communities to figure out how they’ve solved issues. 

Let’s use private jets, as an example. Park City doesn’t own an airport. But imagine if Aspen, Crested Butte, Telluride, Jackson and Bozeman all got together because they want to start figuring out how to electrify more things. By sharing ideas with thought experts, they can start setting up airport operations to draw in more of these electric jets, or whatever it is. 

So that’s the other thing is sharing these ideas outside of our community, as well. Not only just say, hey, look how great we are, but literally learn from everyone else.  

Also, within the community we have some big allies in both resorts that have environmental staff who are there to help solve stainability issues. 

TPR: It sounds like you have many different roles when exploring ways to improve environmental sustainability in this community.

LC: I focus on everything from playing full-blown defense, to talking to legislators about bills that potentially could not only impact us but also benefit the greater movement, and I work with other cities in Utah and learn what they’ve done, then share what we’ve done. Just this morning, I was talking to another Utah community about our plastic bag ban. 

It’s not just focusing what’s going on within your boundaries and how can you keep things going. It’s more like, how can we learn from others outside of our boundaries? How can we bring the best ideas here and then share our ideas? 

The hope is that people who come to Park City understand what we’re trying to do. We can’t solve all the problems at once, but we’re going to continue learning, and we’re going to try.

For more information about Park City’s commitment to environmental sustainability, visit parkcity.org. 

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Higher wages aren’t a silver bullet

Do you hear that?

It’s the sound of Park City renters holding their breath as their lease expires. As the affordable housing worsens, the rental community will wait to see if they can afford to stay in the community or face the dilemma of moving to Salt Lake City or the Heber Valley, requiring them to either commute into Park City or find employment closer to where they live.  

As of January, the average rent for a 690-square-foot Park City apartment totals $1,473, according to rentcafe.com, with some properties requiring well above $2,000 per month in rent. Around 30% of Park City residents are paying rent to live here. The question is, how long can they afford to stay? 

And for business owners, there’s a pressing follow-up question: What impact will the lack of affordable housing have on the local labor force? The issue is especially urgent given many employers are already suffering from an acute labor shortage.

One business that has found a way to thrive amid the challenges is Red Rock Brewery in Redstone. Sergio Morales, the manager said it’s partly a result of bumping up wages.

“We’ve increased our pay for employees, and we’ve given them employee discounts. Employees are very happy here,” he said, adding that daily sales are up, too.  

Raising employee wages is a common response to the area’s labor shortage, and it’s a strategic move to reduce the risk of turnover. The potential downside, however, is that a higher wage sometimes requires businesses to pass those extra expenses onto their customers. That, in turn, starts a vicious cycle, increasing the cost of living and requiring the need for even higher wages. 

Jeffrey Jones, economic development and housing director for Summit County, warns that this process of waging prices to absorb higher employee wages is going to cut into everyone’s button line. 

“Hopefully consumers are willing to pay those costs,” he said. 

John Kenworthy, owner of Flanagan’s on Main in Park City, believes Park City has the right leaders in place to start encouraging change and help businesses in the area overcome the challenges they face.

“I am optimistic that we have the ability to fix the major issues we face. Our new governance is in a position to move the needle, and I want to support them fully,” Kenworthy said. “We now have a very skilled chief executive in Mayor Nann Worel. She is not going to run from difficult tasks. Most importantly she believes that we can solve our critical issues.” 

For many, the lack of housing and its impact on the workforce which supports small businesses would be first on the list of critical issues. But the new mayor and City Council — in addition to Summit County officials — face monolith-sized issues and only have limited power over the market forces that are causing the labor shortage. 

“I personally think the demographic forces we see are going to be with us for a while,” Jones said. “I don’t think they’re going to be resolved in just a year.”

The post Labor crunch is on appeared first on Park Record.

Population growth could exacerbate issue in coming decades

”If you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it.”

J.P. Morgan could very well have been talking about the current housing situation across the country, particularly in Summit County. 

It’s no secret that this hot housing market is leaving some homebuyers steamed. A shortage in affordable homes is something Utah has grappled with since the recession in 2008. “During the 2007-2008 recession period, developers were hesitant to reenter the market, and so we fell behind on housing production,” said Jeffrey Jones, economic development and housing director for Summit County. 

But the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on supply chains over this past year, combined with significant net migration, brought a housing crisis of supersized proportions to Utah’s front doorstep. 

“An aberration, anomaly or outlier? I’m not sure. But this last year, in my work on housing over many years, we’ve never seen anything like this,” said James Wood, the Ivory-Boyer senior fellow at the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. 

So where does Park City and Summit County fit into this growth? 

The Institute recently published a report outlining Utah’s long-term planning projections. According to their data, Summit County’s population is projected to increase by over 40.6% from 2020 to 2060. Estimates for the number of households Summit County will add reach almost 80% (12,390 new households) by 2060. 

The study attributes this growth to two factors: natural increase, which hovers around 12 to 15% for Summit County, and net migration. That’s where Utah is feeling the squeeze. Data shows the projected net migration for Summit County exceeds 80%, and Wasatch County is among the nine counties that will depend entirely on net migration for growth. 

For a community that is already dealing with an affordable housing crisis that has made it increasingly difficult for workers to live in the area, the projections are grim — and complicate the effort among local leaders to make significant progress on the issue.  

“We have an annual demand for affordable workforce housing,” Jones said. “Somewhere around 400 units per year. And that’s based on our natural increase and net migration numbers.” But the term “affordable,” particularly in a highly sought-after mountain resort town, is subjective. 

Based on 2021 fourth-quarter stats published by the Park City Board of Realtors, the median price of a single-family home across Park City rose 32% to $3.3 million. 

School teachers and ski patrol staff, take a number.  

The conversation about affordable and equitable housing hasn’t gone unnoticed by local government leaders. But what level of support is there for affordable housing among residents who live in Park City? It’s a mixed bag. Although listed as one of the three key challenges facing Park City over the next decade, barely over half (58%) of people surveyed in City Hall’s Vision 2020 process said they supported living next door to affordable housing. Yet 45% of those surveyed said they would support paying $250 annually in additional property taxes to build affordable housing. 

That level of support is something Jones has seen before. “When you have a project that you’re building, it’s often your largest investment. And so people, a lot of times, don’t react in a positive way,” he said. 

Both Summit County and Park City have inclusionary zoning codes that require new developments to allot a certain percentage of their development to housing for families earning less than 80% of the area’s median income. And City Hall has set a goal to build 800 affordable units by 2026 and has completed or begun planning for nearly 500 of the units. 

But at the root of these efforts is a complex need to expand accessibility to everyone who wants (and needs) to live here while also taking ownership of protecting the features we love about living in Park City. 

Is there more the community can do? 

“The future of this housing market is hard to predict,” said Jayme Angell, general manager, Summit Sotheby’s International Realty. “Let’s just do this responsibly. We want to move forward, but we don’t want to lose sight of what were the selling points to begin with. Things like open spaces, community, opportunity, and unblemished natural surroundings are some of the reasons why people love being here, and it’s those things that are most at stake.”

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Park City industries aim to adapt amid changes

“What do you think of when you hear Park City?”

When asked about Park City, almost any random visitor on the street will probably mention two things: skiing and the Sundance Film Festival. A handful of astute tourists can score bonus points for mentioning the 2002 Winter Olympics, but Park City’s identity is largely defined by its tourism industry and its arts and culture offerings. 

But along with the community itself, the tourist and arts and culture industries face challenges exacerbated by rapid population growth, environmental concerns, housing shortages and, over the last two years, an unpredictable pandemic. 

Both industries must adapt to move forward. But how can they prepare for a changing environment and growing community without losing connection with the residents who love and support them?   

Based on Vision 2020 rapid poll results conducted by City Hall, 82% of respondents felt that tourism is essential to Park City’s local economy. But almost half (48%) felt that the balance of tourism in Park City was “already out of kilter,” and 33% felt that Park City was already suffering irrevocable damage from over-tourism.

But with world-class skiing, movie stars and a 50-plus-year-old arts festival firmly entrenched in Park City’s identity, the economic challenges Parkites face are worth solving. 

Since 1976, the Kimball Arts Center has been a cornerstone for a robust Park City arts community. As an ally of the Sundance Institute, KAC’s textured visual arts culture and the Sundance Institute’s creative independent film work carries a starring role in Park City’s economy. 

The Kimball Arts Festival, held annually, is consistently recognized as one of the top festivals in the U.S. for artist’s sales. In 2019, KAC reported the three-day event generated nearly $26.4 million for the local economy, and accounted for more than $1.2 million in artist sales.  

That same year, the pre-pandemic Sundance Film Festival generated over $18.6 million in state and local tax revenue, according to a report commissioned by the Sundance Institute; it supported over 3,000 jobs, which produced $94 million in Utah wages. And Park City played host to more than 122,000 guests from 48 states and 35 foreign countries. To paint a broader picture, the Sundance Film Festival hauled in a five-year cumulative total of $681.5 million, with more than $66.7 million in state and local tax revenue. 

Both organizations hosted two of the most anticipated in-person events in town. That is, until they weren’t. The 2020 Park City Kimball Arts Festival was canceled, while the 2021 and 2022 editions of the Sundance Film Festival were held online. 

“COVID forced a lot of nonprofits to think about the issues surrounding our sustainability. It’s forced us to slow down, be more mission-specific, and really look at our priorities,” said Aldy Milliken, executive director of the Kimball Arts Center. “We need to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. That’s been happening with every nonprofit, especially cultural nonprofits across the country. What is our mission? And then that mission is turned into sustainable programs.” 

For KAC, the next step is to consider scale. “This building (we are in) is about 30% of what I think the true size of a final Kimball Arts Center building should look like,” Milliken said. “It means we can be the creative living room of Park City and offer all of the education programs that we want, and we can host international quality exhibitions for our local population and our tourist population. We can provide an incredible creative opportunity for this community.” 

What is typically exclusive to much larger cities, the Kimball Arts Center and the Sundance Institute offer grassroots access to high-quality creativity, often before it’s “discovered” by the rest of the world. 

“I think that is our (KAC) role here in the visual art world,” Milliken said. “We’re very simpatico in the way we approach creative content. Sundance is exceptional at finding independent filmmakers and storytellers, and then creating avenues for them to further their career. I would say we do very similar things in the art world; that the artists we collaborate with are on a creative journey. By doing so, both of our organizations give access to art and creative content.”

Conquering the uphill battle for downhill skiing industry

In addition to fostering a creative economy, some see steering the economic focus even further away from the ski industry, which is dependent on natural resources like snowfall, as a viable solution for issues like labor shortages in service industries or traffic congestion. 

Can Park City vie for the title of, say, the next new and improved Silicon Slopes? Those who track the industry patterns are a little skeptical. Even the most deeply rooted techie convention-goers from all over the world arrive at the airport with their snowboard. 

“We watched a number of other mountain resort towns pursue the tech industry. But to be honest, it’s inconsistent with who we are,” said Jonathan Weidenhamer, economic director for Park City. “We’ve built this incredible destination tourist experience.”

Straying from that brand is not true to Park City’s roots, he added. But that doesn’t mean the decisions that leaders make can’t place local residents and the community as a priority. Throughout the Vision 2020 process, Parkites expressed concerns about the city catering to visitors rather than residents. 

In response to those concerns, Weidenhamer believes, for instance, that the city can continue to reduce its role in facilitating sporting events, trail races and running races so that residents have better access to facilities that remain in better condition. “I think we’ll continue to do our best to protect our residents and natural resources that surround us,” he said. 

A great example of that commitment is the city’s investment in open spaces.  Most notably the recent $38 million purchase of the 1,350-acres Bonanza Flat land and the $64 million acquisition of the Treasure hillside in 2019. 

“There’s no better statement of our willingness to protect those natural resources than that,” Weidenhamer said. 

Whether Park City addresses practical solutions for a thriving (and profitable) arts and culture district, or explores ways to protect quality of life for residents while balancing a successful tourist/recreational industry, economic sustainability needs vision, open communication, accountability and collaboration among the city, residents, and the area’s major employees to effectively address problems like affordable housing and traffic congestion. 

“I understand a lot about creative placemaking, and I understand about sustainable development and thoughtful development, intelligent development. So when we talk about growth, it’s about looking at the big picture first, and then finding solutions for ways of mitigating those issues that are problematic,” Milliken said. “It’s not about saying no to growth. Instead, it’s about learning how we can do it intelligently and sustainably in ways that will provide offerings for all people.” 

He added, “I think we’re going to find ways to encourage certain types of behavior that complement growth, then I think we’re going to be able to mitigate some of these important issues.” 

The post Evolution, elevated appeared first on Park Record.

Some people call it the “shoutiest debate on the internet,” and with good reason — the lack of not only affordable housing but housing in general impacts communities on a national level. The National Low Income Housing Coalition, for instance, says there is a shortage of more than 7 million affordable homes, affecting 11 million low-income families.

In Utah, Summit County and much of the rest of the state are feeling the crunch — and have been for quite some time. The challenge of satisfying the need for affordable housing was an issue long before the pandemic occurred.

“The real race is to create more dwelling units than households,” said Jeff Jones, economic development director for Summit County. “From 2010 to 2020, the housing gap in Utah shows a shortage of 44,500 units. It used to be that we developed enough housing units to where we could keep this in balance, but it’s become more challenging, particularly coming out of recession.”

Jones said developers were hesitant to reenter the housing market following the Great Recession, so communities fell behind on housing production.

“But people were still moving into the area for jobs while we fell behind in production, and we’ve been trying to play catch-up ever since,” he said.

Jones said the affordable housing shortage has broad impacts on the Park City community, acting as a force multiplier on issues such as traffic congestion. More people having to commute into Park City to reach their jobs, for instance, increases traffic on S.R. 224 and S.R. 248.

Yet, while most people in Park City support the ideal of affordable housing, not everyone is eager when a development is proposed near their neighborhood.

“The issue of acceptance is also a unique challenge,” said Jones. “Building a home is often a person’s largest investment. Many people don’t react in a positive way to new housing projects going in nearby. So you have the pressure to build more housing, but you also have the pressure of people who are less accepting of new growth.”

However, Summit County is already experiencing natural growth, Jones said.

“The last assessment completed illustrated we have an annual demand for affordable workforce housing around 400 units needed per year based upon our net natural increase and our net migration,” he said.

As winter nears, the need for service and hospitality workers stretches to around 6,000 jobs. Yet only 38.6% of Summit County’s workforce lives in the community, Jones said.

When Jones asked the Summit County Council what percentage of the workforce they want to capture, three council members indicated they’d like to see that number move closer to 50%.

Reaching that goal is likely to be challenging, as the issue of affordable housing has vexed many rosters of local elected officials over the years. But progress is being made.

“We have a number of housing projects in the pipeline right now, and we need to see what our numbers look like after some of those units are complete,” said Jones, referring to units at Silver Creek Village and a workforce project at Canyons Village involving 169 units and 1,100-plus pillows.

When companies move to Summit County, where their employee base will live is part of the conversation. The company must be able to recruit employees. If housing is not available, it jeopardizes the business. Summit County already has an inclusionary requirement, meaning that if a developer builds a new commercial space, they must set aside 20% of a project for affordable housing. Jones confirmed that applies to 80% of the area in Summit County.

“I think everybody is trying to find the best solution for housing affordability,” Jones said. “A lot is happening on the state level where people are trying to understand the needs and examine the best way to facilitate the production of housing. Hopefully, we all get smarter about how we build our cities and communities.”

Jones would like to see future decisions lead to housing that matches the employment sectors. He hopes this amenity-rich environment is something leaders can make available to those who work in Summit County.

“For Summit County, the main thing is we want to be responsible stewards of our environment so that what we pass down to future generations is equal to or better than what we currently have,” Jones said.

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Imagine getting paid to work from some of the world’s most scenic recreation destinations. Ten years ago, few people would have considered it. But what was once a provocative marketing angle to attract workaholics to luxury resorts exploded as a strategic defense for keeping companies open during a pandemic.

With remote work now pitched as a sign-on bonus in a tight skilled labor market, its prevalence impacts Park City. But how much? And what is it about Summit County that appeals to this new workforce?

One of Park City’s more visible residents, Amy Roberts, is VP of communications at KNB Communications, a public relations marketing agency based in New York City. But you likely know her for her weekly column in The Park Record.

“I had been working for a local organization, which went temporarily remote in March of 2020,” Roberts said. “I realized I was much more productive and overall happier not going into an office. So in February of 2021, I decided to make remote work permanent and took the job with KNB.”

Roberts is one of around 48.7 million people in America, or about 35% of the employed workforce, who work from home as a result of the pandemic. This is according to a Current Population Survey (CPS) published by the Census Bureau.

And Roberts is not alone among these new remote workers in seeing the Park City area as an ideal home base. The real estate market has been hot since COVID emerged, and there’s been a sense in the community that the pandemic opened the door for many of the people moving to town to live here while working remotely.

Jeff Jones, economic development director for Summit County, said the data shows that remote workers are indeed prevalent.

“According to the American Community Survey, the people who work remotely in Summit County make up 13.7% of the labor force,” he said. That’s almost double the estimates in Wasatch County (7.5%) and the entire state of Utah, which averages around 6.6%.

The survey also listed Clearlake, California (13.4%), and Taos, New Mexico (12.3%) as top destinations. Even St. George reports a remote labor force of 13.4%. If you see a trend of remote workers flocking to areas with rich amenities — like Park City’s outdoor recreation and cultural offerings — you’d be right.

Roberts believes a destination is also determined by what it isn’t.

“Traditionally, people have been forced to live close to where they work. But now that so many employees are not at the mercy of a company’s address, it makes sense they’re choosing a location more compatible with their lifestyle. Recreation, weather, climate, quality of life, access to nature — they’re all kind of a given in Park City,” she said, adding that easy access to an international airport makes those quick trips back to headquarters relatively easy.

This new labor force may even be big enough to impact, say, the grocery store line, or the ability to get a last-minute reservation at a Main Street restaurant. But according to Jones, it’s unlikely to exacerbate the area’s affordable housing crunch in the long term because many of the workers will earn wages that allow them to break into Park City’s pricey real estate market.

“Prior to the advent of the shared economy and Airbnbs, for instance, much of the existing housing product could be offered to residents,” he said. “But because the return on that (for a property owner) is much less than short-term rentals, that’s where the competition would be. A higher-wage worker can rent another house, whereas it’s harder for a worker collecting lower wages to have that option.”

Regardless, it seems likely that Park City’s remote workers are here to stay. An Enterprise Technology Research survey, for example, predicts that the percentage of permanent remote workers is expected to double this year.

What emerged as a solution for companies in the early days of the health crisis has likely transformed the workforce — and by extension Park City — permanently.

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Where were you on March 11, 2020, when the first known case of COVID-19 in Park City was discovered? From that day forward, the community was transformed by a virus — and health care workers, in particular, had their lives upended.

Three days after the first case was found, Dr. Wing Province, medical director of Park City Hospital, recalls a local hotel called to report that one of its employees was COVID-19 positive. They wanted to send 100 people to the hospital for testing. And the pace for health care workers never slowed.

“It was an exciting time. Throw in an earthquake, and it was an interesting month,” Province said, referencing the March 18 tremor that shook Park City along with the Salt Lake Valley. “But we were lucky to have the support of Intermountain Healthcare and the support of our health care workers. They were phenomenal and so resilient. They wanted to get in there, help, and do everything they could for the community.”

A year and a half later, Province is proud of his medical team, and he also recognizes the combined efforts of local leadership, including Rich Bullough, who led the Summit County Health Department’s response to the pandemic before his retirement this August.

“I need to give credit to Rich Bullough and his staff,” said Province. “His leadership set the tone for the state, and he showed a lot of courage in the sense that he got pushback for the bold moves he made to keep the county safe.”

Bullough, for his part, said he is also proud of how the community has handled the pandemic.

“In March of 2020, at the onset of the pandemic, Summit County had among the highest incidence rates per capita in the entire nation,” said Bullough, who was the director of the Health Department. “The community rallied to protect one another.”

A major turning point in the county’s pandemic response was the approval of COVID-19 vaccines. Bullough recalled that Intermountain Healthcare immediately stood up a vaccine clinic in partnership with the mass vaccine clinic administered by the Summit County Health Department at the Utah Film Studios.

“Together, and with other partners, enough vaccines were administered that Summit County now has the highest vaccination rate in the state and among the highest in the nation,” Bullough said.

According to state data in late August, 80.5% of Summit County residents had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 70.7% of residents were fully vaccinated.

“I should give a shout out to the volunteers in the community who stepped up to help us in our clinics,” said Province. “They would stand out in the rain and cold to help vaccinate their neighbors. … If you look at it, with the onset of a new virus, there’s a lot of people who are alive today, in part, because of those volunteers.”

But the work continued as fall approached as health care workers — already exhausted from a year and a half of treating COVID patients — look warily toward the next few months amid a statewide surge in cases spurred by the delta coronavirus variant.

“Many people think this crisis is over because businesses are opening and many areas are lifting masks mandates, but for health care workers, we are heading toward what may be the worst time,” said Province. “We have sicker people coming into our hospitals who need our help.”

Whether people want help is another story. Province said the politicization of the pandemic has health care workers caught in the middle.

“Not long ago, people looked to us with hope and gratitude,” Province said. “Now, we are seeing more patients, working with fewer resources, and we often treat patients who are as mean as you can imagine.

“Morale is low,” he added, “and workers are just exhausted.”

If there was a time to reach out to a valued health care worker — this is it.

“One of the messages we would love people to know is that this (pandemic) is not over. And those health care workers that this community depended on during the pandemic need our help and support now,” said Province. “Our community is filled with amazing people. Not only the health care workers and volunteers but also the people who put the care of others in front of their own needs by getting vaccinated.”

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