Sorted by date Results 351 - 375 of 416
If it proves financially feasible, Wrangell Medical Center may soon pass from municipal ownership to new management. At a public meeting held inside the Nolan Center on Monday evening, representatives of the City and Borough of Wrangell and the hospital explained WMC is in pretty dire straits at the moment. WMC chief executive Robert Rang said the facility has been having increasing difficulty meeting costs to operate. "The hospital's been losing money for several years," he reported....
Shannon Diane Gillen (Booga) passed away April 1, in Anchorage Alaska. She was born November 17, 1977 in Wrangell, Alaska to Timothy Gillen Sr. (Wrangell) and Jinx Clark (Reedsport, Oregon). Shannon stayed in Wrangell after graduating from Wrangell High School in 1995 to work jobs from Wrangell Seafoods to her latest job at SEARHC. She loved camping, going up the Stikine River, bowling, laughing and giving you her honest opinion even if you didn't want it. She was always an Auntie first and her...
An important roundtable discussion on the future of public health care provision in Wrangell is set for this weekend, followed by a community meeting Monday night. At the behest of the City and Borough Assembly, a steering committee made up of representatives of a half-dozen stakeholder groups is in the process of being formed. From the assembly itself, Roland Howell and Patty Gilbert will be joined by Dan Neumeister of Southeast Rural Health Consortium and Mark Walker from its Alaska Island Community Services clinic; Jennifer Bates and Olinda...
The Borough Assembly in a special meeting last week adopted a letter outlining its intent to potentially partner up with Southeast Alaska Rural Health Consortium on Wrangell’s hospital. Held on March 22, the early evening meeting covered some of the pros and cons of third party partnership for managing Wrangell Medical Center. The hospital is public asset owned and managed by the borough, one of only a handful in the state still run independently of a larger healthcare service. WMC has been “hemorrhaging money,” assembly members have been...
Alaska Crossings is gearing up for its 2018 season, with guide training formally starting last week. The youth-oriented behavioral health program has operated out of Wrangell since its inception, back in 2001. Originally a program of Alaska Island Community Services, Crossings is now under the Southeast Alaska Rural Health Consortium umbrella since it acquired AICS last year. Designed to help people between the ages of 12 and 18 years, Crossings combines therapeutic interventions with outdoor...
Three big issues weighed heavily upon the Wrangell Assembly’s agenda Tuesday; impending crises with the city’s water supply, its hospital’s financial stability, and the state’s site selection for a monofill to house treated lead-contaminated soil extracted from the former Byford junkyard. • Water crisis The city entered its highest watch level for water conservation Tuesday, after learning that its two reservoirs only have about 30 or so days’ worth of raw reserves. (see adjoining story) Reservoir levels have reached a low point after an un...
Wrangell Medical Center Foundation last month issued a letter to supporters informing them it would forgo its annual fundraiser weekend this year. For the past ten years the Brian Gilbert Memorial Golf Tournament and fundraiser dinner is hosted in Wrangell each May in order to raise money for the Foundation. The Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to support the community’s medical needs. The funds it handles fills a few roles, primarily supporting WMC’s bid for a new facility but also procuring new equipment, funding its cancer-related tra...
Assembly members commiserated with city and hospital staff on Monday to discuss how to move forward on new organizational arrangement at Wrangell Medical Center. Currently the hospital is a public asset, managed by the City and Borough of Wrangell. For several years it has been contending with inconsistent revenues and cash reserve concerns, and in the event of a default the city would be liable for any outstanding debts. In 2015 the Assembly approved a reserve source of interest-free funds of up to $500,000 for WMC to draw from in case of...
In the December 28 issue of the Sentinel, in the hospital story it was erroneously suggested that a non-binding agreement between the Borough Assembly and SEARHC had been previously approved regarding the direction of hospital management. The Assembly had at its December 5 meeting instead directed the city manager to issue a request for quotes from potential contractors, which when selected would help review and advise on a potential agreement....
Another year begins this week, and 2018 both holds promise and poses challenges to Wrangell residents. Economic trials will perhaps be of the greatest concern as state coffers seem set to dry up and fishing forecasts continue to disappoint. Limits to funding sources will be of particular bother as the borough continues to address an aging infrastructure, though securing state funding for the Shoemaker Bay Harbor refurbishment and an expected start to the belated Evergreen Road repaving should...
Wrangell Medical Center passed its annual financial audit without complaint, though its cash flow situation is still not in the best of health. Financial officer Doran Hammett ran down the numbers for members of the hospital’s governing board during their monthly meeting December 20. Revenues for the past five months still are lagging behind expectation, around eight percent below budget. Expenses have also been lower than expected, by about six percent, but the hospital is nonetheless running at around a $224,460 loss for the 2018 fiscal y...
At its regular meeting Tuesday, the Borough Assembly approved moving ahead with seeking a consultant on the hospital’s future, while members also learned city computers had been targeted by a hacking attack. A letter recommending hiring a consultant had been submitted to the city by the Wrangell Medical Center governing board last month. Currently the hospital is a municipal service, but recent cash flow troubles and sizable costs for a replacement facility have had administrators and elected officials alike considering other alternatives. A...
Following talks earlier this month with the city, the hospital board drafted a letter requesting that it move forward with finding a third party partnership. At their November 15 meeting, Wrangell Medical Center governing board members discussed the pros and potential cons of partnering up with another organization. A major reason for considering the move is seeking out project support for construction of a new medical facility, an elusive goal for much of the past decade. Among the board’s more immediate concerns is maintaining cash flow to t...
In a special workshop at City Hall on Monday, administrators at Wrangell Medical Center and members of its governing board met with the City and Borough Assembly to discuss the cost of a new facility. The municipally-managed hospital has been interested in constructing a new facility for at least a decade, with its current building in use already for the past four decades posing a number of maintenance and compliance issues. The Assembly had directed WMC staff a year ago to seek architectural...
The hospital is scheduled to implement a new smoke-free campus policy at the start of the new year. Wrangell Medical Center administrators and key staff signed the new policy on October 24, to take effect on January 1. Currently the hospital sports designated smoking areas for staff, patients and visitors, one of the few hospitals in the state still to do so, reckons Scott Glaze, WMC compliance and risk manager. Its health provision counterpart Alaska Island Community Services has had such a policy in place since February 2015. The new policy...
This year open enrollment in the state’s health insurance marketplace has been shortened to six weeks, beginning yesterday and running through December 15. Enabled through the Affordable Care Act, Americans meeting certain criteria can apply for government subsidies for participating insurance plans. Before the start of each calendar year, they are required to prepare submissions for new or renewed coverage through the HealthCare.gov website during this open enrollment period. As previously announced last month, Southeast Alaska Regional H...
The open enrollment period for obtaining or changing insurance plans through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Marketplace has been shortened this year to just six weeks, a regional health provider cautioned residents. Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium has offered to help people navigate the application process of applying for health coverage through the Marketplace, hosted at HealthCare.gov. During the open enrollment period from November 1 to December 15, SEARHC Outreach can help applicants prepare th...
An open house and ribbon cutting was held for a new and expanded Children’s Dental Clinic in Juneau on June 22. First admitting patients the previous month, the office is maintained by Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium at its dental building in the capital’s downtown. The expansion has been in its planning stages since 2014 and was to its designers a logical next step in providing all children in the community. Many of said patients are recipients of Denali Kid Care with access to dental care. With more space and more dentists, SEA...
Residents are invited to attend a special presentation at the local clinic this evening, focused on understanding and treating addiction. Targeting problems with alcohol and opioids, Dr. Janice Sheufelt will lead the public presentation, which begins at 5:30 p.m. in the conference room at Alaska Island Community Services, a division of Southeast Regional Health Consortium. As the medical director for primary care across the SEARHC network, Sheufelt will explain the scope of the addiction problem facing Southeast communities, while also offering...
A survey being put out by Wrangell’s Parks Department will be digging into the community’s recreational priorities in the coming years. “With the current climate of our state economy and the increasing demand for our current facilities, we need to prioritize our tasks and goals,” explained department director Kate Thomas. She said a system-wide needs assessment would help the department focus in on what residents like – what parks they frequent, which trails they climb, the amenities they would like to see – beyond the programs and more easily...
Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) has completed its acquisition of Alaska Island Community Services (AICS), with the transition formally taking effect on April 1. Started in 1975, SEARHC is a non-profit tribal health consortium representing 18 Native communities in the region. Among its other programs, it operates Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital and the Ethel Lund Medical Center in Juneau. One of the largest private employers in the region before the merger, the deal with AICS extends its reach to 24 communities. Established in...
A reboot to the local hospital’s new building project was underway last week, with key contractors on site for predevelopment work. Wrangell Medical Center CEO Robert Rang informed the hospital’s governing board at its March 15 meeting that principal architect Joann Lott and company president Wayne Jensen of Juneau-based firm Jensen Yorba Lott were in town preparing preliminary plans for a new hospital facility on Wood Street. The pair had looked over the proposed site on March 13, which is adjacent to the current Alaska Island Community Ser...
The City and Borough Assembly confirmed its selection of an interim borough manager to serve after Jeff Jabusch retires from the position March 31. He announced his plans to retire last September, putting an end to four decades of service to the city. In his stead, economic director Carol Rushmore has been named to serve as interim manager. As part of the arrangement, the Assembly agreed she will be paid an extra stipend for the months of March, April, and however long it might take for the transition to resolve itself. Funds would be paid...
A planned-for merger between two regional healthcare providers has been put on hold for two months. Alaska Island Community Services was to merge with larger organization SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) on February 1, but the consolidation will have to wait until April 1. The merger was formally announced last October, and heads of both organizations subsequently met with Wrangell officials in November and in January to explain the transition. AICS executive Mark Walker has said the move was needed due to growth in the orga...
