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A series of meetings between Southeast Alaska Rural Health Consortium and the City and Borough of Wrangell are planned for early next week. The regional health group is entertaining making an offer to assume control of Wrangell Medical Center, a municipally-run critical access hospital which has in recent years fallen into financial difficulties. Starting Sunday afternoon and lasting through Tuesday, SEARHC will hold a series of meetings with city staff, hospital transition steering committee members and the wider community, in order to go...
Next week the Wrangell Assembly is scheduled to parse over its line items and budget figures for the coming fiscal year. Bound drafts were handed out to members at their Tuesday evening meeting, to digest before a pair of sessions set for May 1 and 2. As it stands now, the biggest change to come from the upcoming budget effective July 1 will be consolidation of maintenance and facilities services under a new capital facilities department. Separated from Public Works, the new department would also manage major projects and grant implementation....
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
arpen their skills on the basketball court last week, during a two-day clinic hosted at the high school. The Alaska Native Sisterhood Association brought down Damen Bell-Holter, a professional player and life coach whose "Blessed 2 Bless" program reaches out to youth around the country. Having grown up in Hydaburg, he was a hit with Wrangell's own aspiring athletes as an example of what hard work can accomplish. Raised in Hydaburg, after being signed with the Boston Celtics for the 2013 season,...
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...
Wrangell Cooperative Association has created a new position for tourism development, hiring Rachel Moreno for the job. The move is one intended to better coordinate the Tribe’s participation in the visitor industry, a growing segment of the economy regionally despite declines in other sectors. According to state labor statistics, tourism accounted for nine percent of all employment earnings in Southeast for 2015. The sector made up about 17 percent of all jobs, and is currently the fastest-growing. About 500 average annual jobs were added last...
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 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...
For Wrangell, the past year was one mixed with successes and setbacks, shared tragedies and uplifting moments. Sales taxes collected over the spring and summer tour seasons neared all-time highs, with the visitor industry experiencing a good season overall. On the other end, fishermen experienced one of their worst harvests of the summer, which after a disappointing 2015 season has put the fiscal pinch on a number of local families, boat builders, and associated sectors. As 2017 dawns, concerns...
Another housing unit has officially gone smoke-free, according to Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium’s local health promotion department. This fall the new owners of the Stikine Native Organization building on Front Street – colloquially known as the SNO Building to locals – formally made the building’s apartments smoke free. SEARHC health educator Tammi Meissner pointed out the move makes it the first private residential complex in town to register its policy with the state. In September, the Wrangell Senior Apartments formally went s...
The heads of two consolidating health providers appeared before the Wrangell City and Borough Assembly Tuesday evening to talk about upcoming plans and to answer any questions the assembly’s members might have about the transition. Last month Wrangell-based Alaska Island Community Services (AICS) announced it would be merging with larger organization SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC), a process expected to finalize in February 2017. AICS executive Mark Walker explained the move was necessitated by the provider’s growth. Sin...
Last week a Wrangell-based clinical services provider announced its formal merger with another regional health service. Alaska Island Community Services (AICS) and SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) will formally affiliate; a process which is expected to be finalized by the beginning of February 2017. Since 1989 AICS has provided clinical and mental health services to the community, expanding its service range to Petersburg, Gustavus, Point Baker, Port Protection, Coffman Cove, Whale Pass, Naukati and Edna Bay. Last month it a...
Last month Wrangell's Senior Apartments formally went smoke-free, asking its residents to instead head outdoors if they feel the need to have a cigarette. "It was mostly for the health and well-being of our tenants," explained Gail Rilatos, manager of the facility for the past four years. The decision was made by the apartment complex's five-member governing board, which sought input on a new policy from Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium. SEARHC facilitates an Alaska Tobacco...
Area youth tried their hands at an old art form last week, during a three-day formline course put on by the Alaska Native Sisterhood Association. Formline as a style of art is traditional to the people of Southeast Alaska, and its distinctive loop and hooks are widely seen in the designs of various totems, screens, regalia and other works. For the purposes of the Aug. 8-10 class, the canvas in this case was the bottoms of skateboards, which their designers have the option of eventually...
A local tradition now for four years running, the annual five-kilometer (3.1 mile) jog celebrating the summer solstice took on a new dimension. Held on Saturday, the 2016 Smoke-Free Summer Solstice 5K encouraged participants to pursue a tobacco less lifestyle. Ordinarily organized by the running group the Southeast Beasts, this year's run was put on by the Partnership for Tobacco Free SouthEast, a regional coalition encompassing Petersburg, Juneau, Ketchikan and other communities in addition to...
Looking ahead to another century, delegates with the Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB) and Alaska Native Sisterhood (ANS) met in Wrangell last week for their 100th annual Grand Camp. Seventy-one of 120 camp delegates from Alaska, Washington and Oregon were able to attend the four-day conference, which brought about 140 visitors in all. Dedicated to advancing civil rights and improving living conditions for Native communities, the Brotherhood was founded in Sitka in 1912, with an auxiliary...
