Sorted by date Results 301 - 325 of 416
On Thursday, May 30, SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. at 232 Wood Street in Wrangell. Located adjacent to the Alaska Island Community Services (AICS) Medical Clinic, the new WMC will include a critical access hospital and long-term care facility. The decision to build a new medical center is in concert with SEARHC's intent to enhance and expand healthcare services in...
Fire, smoke, and sirens could all be seen and heard at the Wrangell airport last Tuesday afternoon. While there was no real emergency, the situation was meant to simulate one. A disaster drill was held on the airport's runway. According to Airport Manager Willie Bloom, the drill is a triennial event in Wrangell and is required by the FAA. He said the drill is meant to be an opportunity for the Department of Transportation, the Wrangell Fire Department, and the city's medical services be better...
Andrea Thomas, patient health benefits manager with SEARHC, gave a presentation at the Irene Ingle Public Library last Thursday on the basics of Medicare. As many people know, Medicare is a government-run health insurance program. There is a common misconception that Medicare is reserved only for people 65-years-old and older. Thomas said in her presentation that this is not true. In fact, anyone under the age of 65-years-old with certain disabilities, end-stage renal disease, or Lou Gehrig's disease also qualify for Medicare. The purpose of...
SEARHC health educator and grief specialist Erin Matthes, of Sitka, visited Wrangell in January to host a workshop on the grieving process and how community members can support those who have experienced loss. The turnout for that workshop was very impressive, she said. Last week, at the AICS Clinic on Wood Street, she held a continuation of the "Friends in Grief" workshop. This workshop went into details about the myths surrounding grief, how to support friends and family who are grieving, and...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly recognized the Lady Wolves high school basketball team during their meeting on Tuesday evening for their hard work over the recent season. Mayor Steve Prysunka, in reading a proclamation congratulating the team, pointed out that the Lady Wolves took first place in regionals, defeating Metlakatla, for the first time in 25 years, and that numerous team members had received several awards and accolades over the course of the season. "I, Stephen Prysunka, mayor of the...
Robert Rang came on as the Wrangell Medical Center's administrator in October of 2015. The hospital was only the latest step in a three-decade career. Rang said he started his career as a CNA, and he kept on slowly rising up in the business. He was working in Kodiak when he first heard about this job being available in Wrangell, he said. "The opportunity opened up, it was something I was very interested in. Small town life is what my wife and I enjoy, along with all the other activities that...
A health fair will be hosted at the Nolan Center next Sat., April 6, from 8 a.m. to noon. The Alaska Health Fair is a statewide nonprofit, which has been working since its founding in 1980 to provide Alaskans with affordable blood tests, screenings, and health education. They conduct almost 100 community events a year across the state, according to their website. Health Educator Haleena Vanveem, health director with SEARHC, is helping to organize the Wrangell Health Fair. She has helped to put...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly discussed a proposed noise ordinance once again during their meeting onTuesday. The ordinance has been the source of some controversy around town, some seeing it as the result of two feuding neighbors, or that the regulations proposed by the ordinance are unrealistic. When the ordinance was brought up for discussion in the last meeting, on March 12, there was a very large public turnout to speak their minds on the topic. During that meeting, the assembly proposed various amendments to the ordinance. Previously,...
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is a federal agency that works to care for the nation's veterans. The VA offers eligible veterans healthcare, as well as other non-medical benefits such as memorial benefits and disability payments. The state of Alaska is home to somewhere between 75 to 90,000 veterans, according to Alaska VA Healthcare System Director Dr. Timothy Ballard. Of these, however, he said that maybe only 36,000 are signed up and receiving their VA benefits, and they...
Many members of the Wrangell community, as well as guides from Alaska Crossings, crammed into the Stikine Middle School commons last Saturday afternoon for QPR suicide prevention training. The training was lead by Jay Greene and Tracey Wiese, of the Full Spectrum health clinic in Anchorage. They were invited to Wrangell by Community Roots, the local LGBT support group. Suicide is something that is very prevalent in Alaskan communities, they explained during the training, and is higher than avera...
In 2018 The Walker Foundation provided nearly $50,000 in funding to four Wrangell organizations that support health-related projects. The board selected Community Roots, City of Wrangell Parks and Recreation, City of Wrangell Volunteer Fire Department, and Southeast Beasts as recipients out of numerous applications. Community Roots is a local social support group for the LGBTQA community. The Walker Foundation awarded Community Roots with a $1,000.00 grant to help support QPR GateKeeper Suicide Prevention Training in March. City of Wrangell...
Harbor Light Assembly of God, located across Zimovia Highway from Alaska Housing, began renovations to its downstairs portion of the church earlier this month. The renovations are thanks, in part, to a $15,000 grant from the Rasmuson Foundation they received last October. Pastor Kem Haggard, with Harbor Light, said they received the Tier 1 grant from the foundation to help benefit the wider Wrangell community. “They’re [the Rasmuson Foundation] basic thing is they really want to enhance communities,” said Haggard. “Several years ago, one of...
Erin Matthes, health educator with SEARHC in Sitka, came up with the idea for a "grief and bereavement workshop" out of a desire to debunk myths about grief and help lessen stigmas attached to it. Her work, she said, focuses on education and support in the areas of aging, end of life, and grief and bereavement. She is also a licensed professional counselor, and recently earned her certification in Thanatology, or the study of death and bereavement. She said that over the last five or six years...
Wrangell’s planning and zoning commission met last Thursday evening to review and approve of the rezoning of several lots owned by Armstrong Rents, LLC. Robert Armstrong came before the commission to give some history on the lots, which are located on a stretch of land between Front Street and Church Street to the west and east, and Episcopal Avenue and Case Avenue to the north and south. These lots came into his family’s possession over many years, Armstrong said, when his father first came to Wrangell. “Curley” Armstrong came to Alaska on May...
The Wrangell borough assembly met last Tuesday night to hear an update on the transition of the Wrangell Medical Center to SEARHC control. The regional healthcare consortium took over the medical center late last year and is in the process of building a new hospital in Wrangell. In the meantime, the WMC will be run by SEARHC until the new hospital is ready to receive patients, reportedly in 2021. Dan Neumeister, with SEARHC, said the transition has been very smooth for the hospital’s employees. There have also been some technological and i...
April The Department of Transportation is finally able to get started on a major Wrangell road repaving project. Perforated by potholes, the borough’s Evergreen Avenue will be resurfaced and repaired, with pedestrian improvements and other fixes. The major project has been on hold for half a decade, surviving rounds of budget cuts to capital funding elsewhere in the state along the way. Two local right of way issues which had lately been holding up the project were wrapped up in February, allowing the project to move along. Speaking at a p...
The past year has been a busy one for the community of Wrangell, and also one full of changes. Elections have come and gone, the school district saw a new superintendent and two new principals, a high school swimming and diving team was organized, and a new reporter came to town. A new organization was formed, BRAVE, to help bring people together to enhance life in the community for Wrangell’s younger population. Other organizations like the Senior Center and Nolan Center saw new faces, as well. There were lots of physical changes to W...
City officials, Wrangell Medical Center staff, SEARHC representatives, and many community members were present at the Nolan Center as the "future of healthcare" in Wrangell was celebrated. The party, which took place on the evening of Dec. 13, commemorated the SEARHC takeover of the medical center. SEARHC, a health consortium that serves Southeast Alaska, agreed to a four year lease of the medical center and to construct a brand new hospital. The new facility, which will be added to the AICS...
Several high school cheerleaders and their coach, Stephanie Cartwright, helped SEARHC Health Educator Tammi Meissner clean cigarette butts off of Front Street last week for the Great American Smokeout. The Smokeout is an annual event in November organized by the American Cancer Society, meant to showcase the dangers of smoking and encourage people to quit. The cheerleaders went down Front Street picking up cigarette butts, collecting about six pounds according to Meissner. "It took us about an...
SEARHC ran a flu shot clinic at the Nolan Center on election day. The clinic was right across the hallway from the polling place....
The Wrangell Medical Center Auxiliary is an organization that has worked to assist the hospital in providing services to its patients and to “promote the health and welfare of the community,” according to its stated purpose in the bylaws. With the hospital being transferred to the control of SEARHC, however, the organization has been questioning what its future holds. In a meeting on Monday, Oct. 29, the Auxiliary discussed future disbandment, and what to do with the auxiliary’s funds. The members of the auxiliary that were present for the m...
The Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors met on Oct. 17 for their last meeting before the long-planned transition of authority to SEARHC. This comes after the successful passing of a ballot measure on Oct. 2 allowing SEARHC to take charge of the medical center. Senior Executive Vice President of SEARHC Dan Neumeister attended the meeting to give the board an update on the transition, which is scheduled to officially take place in early November. The Wrangell Medical Center will keep the same name after SEARHC takes over operations, Neumei...
To the Editor: Does the Wrangell Hospital Auxiliary have a future? For nearly half a century, the group has existed to raise funds and otherwise support our local hospital, paying many thousands of dollars for equipment and items to improve the care and quality of life for patients and residents. November 1, 2018, marks the transfer of Wrangell Medical Center to SEARHC. With a stronger revenue stream, the hospital administration will have adequate operating funds. SEARHC will purchase all equipment necessary for the planned new hospital...
It was a long meeting for the Wrangell Borough Assembly on the evening of Oct. 23. Nearly reaching two hours long, a large portion of the meeting was devoted to a proposed amendment to the municipal code, which would remove the invocation as a mandatory part of assembly meetings. Mayor Steven Prysunka explained that this has been brought up because of a recent ruling by the Alaska Supreme Court, when they found that the invocation policy of the Borough of Kenai Peninsula was unconstitutional. The court recently ruled that an assembly cannot...