It’s more than a New Year’s resolution.
Members of the South Surrey/White Rock Healthy Community Working Group – formed in 2011 – are aiming to change the way Semiahmoo Peninsula residents live.
The group was created after the Peace Arch Hospital and Community Foundation (PAHCHF) board of directors set a strategic goal to make South Surrey and White Rock the healthiest community possible. The group, which includes health-care providers and other officials, focuses on health promotion, rather than strictly health care.
Its members explained their mission to White Rock council last week.
“Our vision for a healthier community in South Surrey and White Rock is a healthy and active community where people are committed to physical, mental and social wellbeing,” PAHCHF’s Rachel Suttill told council.
“The working group researched documents from local, national and global sources in efforts to understand what it means to be a healthy community.”
With the help of the City of White Rock’s director of leisure services, Eric Stepura, the group worked on creating – and now implementing – a plan for 2015-2019 called the Strategic Plan for a Healthier Community for South Surrey and White Rock.
The objectives of the group include to collect research on the current state of the “physical and social determinants of health” the community; identify gaps that exist in addressing community health issues; raise awareness and understanding of healthy living; propose, facilitate and support the development of initiatives that advance the state of health in the community.
All members of the group were present, including Suttill, City of Surrey’s healthy communities manager Lori Bowie, White Rock physician Dr. Werner Spengehl, Fraser Health medical officer Dr. Michelle Murti, Fraser Health community specialist Jovana Turkovic, Peace Arch Hospital site director Loraine Jenkins, Seniors Come Share Society’s Sue McIntosh and White Rock Leisure Services community recreation co-ordinator Janna Nicholson.
According to Mayor Wayne Baldwin, the plan and working group are a step in the right direction, and he credited the PAHCHF for their work to get the ball rolling.
“They recognize that the amount of money that we’re putting into the health system – which is excessive – all the money that we pay… really has a finite limit,” Baldwin said. “If we don’t do something to divert the patients going to the hospital, we will be overwhelmed.
“The trick for us is not just to take this document but to put the plan in action.”
Council voted unanimously to endorse the strategic plan.