Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 361
Wrangell's Unified Command participated in their weekly conference call on Wednesday, May 6, to provide organizational updates on COVID-19 developments and changes in respective protocols. The City and Borough of Wrangell (CBW) mayor and manager were joined by Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) leadership, as well as Tribal and Public Health representatives, to discuss Borough Assembly allocations, testing initiatives, and available community resources. Borough...
The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) recently administered COVID-19 tests on all staff at Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center (MEMC) and Wrangell Medical Center (WMC). Both hospitals utilized Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) tents outside the respective facilities to safely conduct staff tests off-site. SEARHC recently received additional COVID-19 testing supply kits from the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage. Along with the recent addition of rapid test kits...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly held a special meeting Monday evening, May 4, to discuss three agenda items related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Governor Mike Dunleavy and the Department of Health and Social Services recently announced four metrics by which they would determine if restrictions need to be eased or rolled back, to protect public health. According to the meeting's agenda packet, the four metrics are: Epidemiology, tracking disease trends and forecasts; Testing, tracking overall...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met remotely last Tuesday, April 14, to hold one of their regularly scheduled meetings. It was a light agenda, as far as items requiring an assembly vote, but there was much discussion. After opening the meeting, the assembly heard from two Wrangell residents who wanted to see the local economy start to reopen. Wrangell residents Dale Parkinson and Mike Lockabey both thanked the city staff and the wider public for doing their parts to keep the community safe during...
On Wednesday, April 15, representatives from the City and Borough of Wrangell (CBW), Wrangell Medical Center (WMC), the Alaska Division of Public Health, the Alaska Island Community Services (AICS) Clinic, and Wrangell's emergency operations center participated in their weekly teleconference to advance community planning for COVID-19 response. The teleconference was preceded by a Tuesday, April 14, COVID-19 report by WMC Medical Director Dr. Lynn Prysunka to the CBW Assembly as part of their...
On Wed., March 25, Wrangell COVID-19 responders participated in their weekly joint meeting to discuss the latest actions made in preparation for the coronavirus reaching the island. City and Borough of Wrangell (CBW) leadership discussed state travel mandate advertisement and enforcement, while Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) administration provided information on the surge plans, should the local healthcare facility see unprecedented levels of admittance due to the coronavirus. Representatives...
The City and Borough of Wrangell (CBW), the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) and local leadership met last Wednesday in the first weekly meeting to collaborate and prepare a local response to the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The team, consisting of CBW, SEARHC, Wrangell Medical Center (WMC), Wrangell Volunteer Fire Dept., Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Wrangell Police Dept. and local port officials, is closely monitoring information of a potential outbreak in...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Tuesday, Feb. 25, to have a follow-up work session on staffing issues at the Irene Ingle Public Library and the Nolan Center. As covered in a Feb. 13 article of the Sentinel, the assembly has been considering how best to resolve staffing questions at both facilities while also keeping everything as affordable as possible. During their last workshop, the assembly considered a number of options for an empty assistant position at the library. The Nolan Center has...
Construction of the new Wrangell Medical Center, next to the AICS Clinic on Wood Street, has continued in spite of bad weather in recent weeks, and according to a press release from the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, things are on track for a grand opening in early 2021. According to SEARHC's press release, concrete slabs are complete in the first four quadrants of the construction. However, cold temperatures forced continued concrete work to be put on hold. Mike Pountney, SEARHC...
January 6 Nothing to report. January 7 Nothing to report January 8 Agency assist: Public Works Citizen assist: Civil Standby Welfare check Agency assist: Arrowhead Inappropriate phone calls, extra patrols. January 9 Agency assist: Public Works Summons Service January 10 Agency assist: Public Works Agency assist: AST Hazardous Play Informational Report January 11 Intoxicated Persons Suspicious Person Hindering Prosecution Citizen assist: Unlock vehicle Traffic stop verbal warning driving habits Agency assist: USFS traffic stop, verbal warning...
Construction of the new Wrangell Medical Center remains on schedule and on budget, according to SEARHC Vice President and Hospital Administrator Leatha Merculieff. The future hospital will be about 44,500 square feet, attached to the AICS Clinic off of Wood Street, and cost about $30 million. Construction began in the spring of this year. Merculieff said that there have been some minor delays with getting trusses shipped to Wrangell, but now all major structural materials are on the island....
Wrangell Medical Center (WMC), part of the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC), recently received notice of the successful certification of six new Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) from the Wrangell CNA Training Program. The six-week program, instructed by WMC Registered Nurse and state certified CNA Training Instructor Katrina Ottesen, prepped the half-dozen Wrangell locals for the state exam and an opportunity for employment at WMC. A graduation ceremony will take place in...
Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) Wrangell Medical Center’s (WMC) Cathy Gross, Registered Health Information Technician and WMC Performance Improvement Manager, has been named the 2019 winner of the Front-line Staff Outstanding Performance Award by the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association (ASHNHA). Gross was honored during the September 26 ASHNHA Annual Conference for her years of dedication to patient safety improvements at WMC. She was notified of the award on the first-ever World Patient Safety Day, S...
SouthEast Alaska Regional Healthcare Consortium's (SEARHC) Sitka Long-Term Care (SLTC) and Wrangell Medical Center Long-Term Care (WMC LTC) will be presented with a trio of quality awards this month from Mountain Pacific Quality Health's (MPQH). SEARHC will be awarded "Gold Pans" during the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association annual conference on Sept. 26 in Girdwood, Alaska, with STLC tabbed as a recipient for the Quality Achievement Award and WMC LTC receiving both the Quality...
Last weekend was the Wrangell Medical Center Foundation's Rally for Cancer Care Tournament, held at Muskeg Meadows. The annual event draws sizable crowds from both Wrangell and Petersburg, to raise money to cover cancer patients' travel expenses. This year was no exception. On Saturday, Aug. 17, 51 women attended the tournament. Of these, 31 were from Petersburg. This was not a serious tournament, but an excuse to hang out with friends and enjoy several golf-themed contests. Food, and a silent a...
City Park was crowded and colorful last Saturday as people came together for the annual Long Term Care Color Run. The event is sponsored by the Wrangell Medical Center and its Long Term Care unit. There were 22 people who participated in the color run this year, according to organizer Alyssa Dame. The run is a fun way for Long Term Care residents to raise money, she said. This year they were going to donate their proceeds to Hannah's Place and local youth sports organizations. The color run star...
Due to the dry conditions and water shortage concerns, there is a very high fire hazard and public safety (and property) concern. The City & Borough of Wrangell, along with the Wrangell Police Department and the Wrangell Fire Department has made the decision that there will not be a Fireworks Display this year. We understand that the Fireworks Display is a huge part of the 4th of July however, we are very concerned with the potential for fire during these dry conditions. Further, if there were...
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...
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...
For the second straight month, Wrangell Medical Center’s (WMC) Long-Term Care sits atop the state rankings for nursing home quality, based on an average of 11 quality measures used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). With scores of 4.49 and 3.37 in December 2018 and January 2019, respectively, WMC scored below the CMS national target of 6.0 and well below the state composite scores of 8.5 in December 8.42 in January, besting the 17 other qualified nursing homes in Alaska. “We have a great team at WMC,” said WMC Admin...
January 28, 2019 Traffic complaint. Welfare check. Noise complaint: Loud music. Turned down before officer’s arrival. January 29, 2019 Citizen assist: Vehicle unlock. January 30, 2019 Report of theft. Domestic violence: Unfounded. Agency assist: GCI cable down. Noise complaint. January 31, 2019 Two reports of theft. Agency assist: Welfare check. Two reports of trespassing. Traffic stop: No tail lights. Agency assist: WMC. Traffic stop: Verbal warning for passing in unauthorized zone. February 1, 2019 Suspicious person. Agency assist: Chimney f...
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...
