Sorted by date Results 701 - 725 of 839
A slander and web-based defamation case brought by Dr. Greg Salard against a Wrangell resident will go forward, with a trial date set for early next year – but an offer to settle is on the table. First District Court Judge Kevin Miller ruled on Monday, Oct. 15 that Salard’s case against Lisa Gillen would be heard on April 22, 2013 in Wrangell’s First District Court. The case, which was initially filed on July 13, alleges that Gillen made statements in an online Facebook chat session about the physician, his family, and his ability to pract... Full story
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and Wrangell Medical Center is encouraging women to focus on this important healthcare issue by offering reduced rate mammograms. Local women can save more than 45 percent off the regular price of a mammogram at WMC during the month of October. Ann Kramer, who heads the Imaging Department at WMC, describes the mammography process, “Women age 40 and older may self-request a screening mammogram by calling the WMC Imaging department to set up an appointment. Then, at the given time, check in with the r... Full story
According to Noel Rea and his attorney, an iPad at the center of a lawsuit filed against him and former Wrangell Medical Center board members is his to keep. The borough, which is suing Rea and six recalled members of the board over actions taken at their final meeting, is seeking the return of the iPad and Blackberry, which they claim contains evidence relevant to their case. Rea is saying the items are his and therefore protected from review by the city or its attorneys – and that he claims to own the iPad, having arranged to purchase it f...
A business plan for The Wrangell Community Market, written by a University of Alaska Center for Economic Development graduate student, Jamie Arnett, was submitted to the Farmers Market Promotional Program, through the Wrangell Medical Center, at the end of last month. According to Borough Manager Tim Rooney, city staff through planning and implementation of the pilot farmers market, which took place in Wrangell this year, provided assistance in the development of the business plan. “The main goal of a farmers market in Wrangell is to make f...
The Borough Assembly met in open session on Tuesday, Oct. 9 – and featured the return of Don McConachie as Mayor of the city – a position he held when Wrangell was incorporated as a borough in 2008. Assembly member Bill Privett was appointed as Vice Mayor, with Mayor McConachie appointing a number of Wrangell residents to various board and commission positions currently vacant. McConachie also directed Borough Clerk Kim Flores to seek out letters of intent from individuals seeking to be appointed to the assembly seat left vacant by his ele... Full story
Assembly member Don McConachie was elected Mayor in Tuesday’s election by the thinnest of margins, with only two votes separating him and now former Assembly member David Jack. After the votes were tallied – and with eight fax votes making the difference in the election – McConachie wasted no time in announcing his intentions on moving the city and borough forward. “This is an exciting day,” McConachie said. “But, now we have to put Wrangell back into good stead with the state, and we need to ad...
The process for Dr. Greg Salard to possibly regain privileging at Wrangell Medical Center began last week during a closed-door executive session meeting of the WMC Board of Directors. On Wednesday, Oct. 3, the board met for review and possible action regarding his credentialing at the hospital. Salard lost his bid to retain his interim privileging after the previous WMC board voted on April 15, 2011 to suspend his privileges at the hospital. Because of an Alaska State law excluding reporting actions regarding credentialing matters, WMC board...
With school back in session and fall quickly approaching, the beginning of flu season is right around the corner. In years past, the Wrangell Public Health Center has made immunizations available to the community; however the State of Alaska has recently changed its policy and, for the second year running, will no longer be offering flu immunizations to adults at the Front Street clinic. The vaccine will still be available to infants and children, however. There has been a community planning... Full story
To the Editor: I would like to publicly thank Dr. McCandless for his guest commentary in the last Sentinel. It’s obvious that he still has his heart in this community that he faithfully served for so many years. I particularly like his opening statement that he has always considered his patients and the community to be his employers. This coincides with my own belief that the people of Wrangell own our medical center. ALL the people. And, therefore, ALL the people are responsible for “fixing” the dysfunction that he wrote about. By the time...
Why I left Wrangell by Dave McCandless, MD I have always considered my patients and the community to be my employers, no matter who signs my checks. Having cooled off a little, this is my “exit interview” to my employers on why I chose to leave Wrangell, which may be helpful in recruiting and retaining the health care providers you want in the future. It is interesting to me that no board member of AICS (Alaska Island Community Services) or WMC (Wrangell Medical Center) have asked about this. I suppose it is because they accept what they are...
Sentinel writer A pre-trial scheduling conference in the case of the City and Borough of Wrangell and former Wrangell Medical Center administrator Noel Rea, as well as six former members of the WMC Board of Directors, has been set for Nov. 7 at 3:30 p.m. at Wrangell’s First District Court. The case, which was filed on July 11, seeks to have an amendment to the employment contract of Rea voided, and to order that he return a six-figure severance check paid to him after his termination by the board on June 20. According to court documents, t...
Assembly Maxi Wiederspohn What background or experience do you have that qualifies you to be on the Wrangell Borough Assembly? I was born and raised in Wrangell and my work history is all in Wrangell. I will be a good listener then get as many facts and answers as I can. I can then consider what is best for the community as a whole. I will not jump to any judgment and will follow the rule of law. Why are you running for the assembly? To give back to the community and the people that I love so mu... Full story
The Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors held their regularly scheduled meeting on Sept. 19 – the first since being reformed during the Aug. 21 special election to replace 8 recalled members. The meeting began with a presentation by staff members Jane Bliss and Brian Smith which showed board members portions of the physical operations plant and kitchen area – where Bliss informed them that more than 12,000 meals were served during the past year. After the presentation, during the Persons to be Heard section of the agenda, Wrangell res...
If the defense attorney for former Wrangell resident Steve Marshall has his way, his client might see freedom sooner rather than later. Marshall, 52, was arrested on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011 at a residence in the Bloom Trailer Court after police responded to an argument between him and his girlfriend. He was indicted by a grand jury on a number of charges, including sexual assault, and is alleged to have raped, strangled and hit the victim, as well as threatening her with a machete, resulting in...
In what was Mayor Jeremy Maxand’s last regular meeting as an elected official in Wrangell, the Borough Assembly met in open session on Tuesday, Sept. 25. In his biweekly report to the Assembly, Borough Manager Tim Rooney updated the group on the lawsuit between the borough and former Wrangell Medical Center CEO Noel Rea. “On Monday, September 17, 2012 the City and Borough of Wrangell filed a motion and memorandum for order for return of laptop computer and iPad to (allow) for forensic examination,” the report stated. The motion and memor... Full story
A team of four Alaska State Department of Health and Social Services surveyors were onsite in Wrangell last week to conduct Wrangell Medical Center’s annual re-certification and State licensure surveys. The surveys were conducted in the Long Term Care Center and the Critical Access portion of the hospital. These visits, which are unannounced standard surveys, are conducted annually to determine compliance with Federal Medicare/Medicaid and State Licensure participation requirements for s...
Wrangell Medical Center has a new administrator – courtesy of a yearlong management agreement with PeaceHealth of Ketchikan. Kendall Sawa, whose first day on the job was Thursday, Sept. 13, takes the reins of the hospital as interim CEO Olinda White retired the same day. White had been in the position since the firing of former hospital chief Noel Rea on June 20. Before coming to Wrangell, Sawa was Vice President for Patient Care Services for Ketchikan Medical Center. He took over that p...
Barbara Conine What is your previous experience on boards or other relevant experience that would qualify you as a member of the Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors? Extensive business experience of actually running two businesses, hiring, firing, meeting payroll, budgeting, customer service, knowing what to keep private and dealing with many governmental agencies. I spent several years on the first Tourism Advisory Board as we worked to market Wrangell as a destination, not just a stop... Full story
The Borough Assembly met in open session on Sept. 11 to take the most recent report from Borough Manager Tim Rooney, and to deal with a pair of resolutions dealing with disposal of property and the establishment of a canvass board for the upcoming general election. The lawsuit between the city and former Wrangell Medical Center administrator Noel Rea, and six former members of the WMC Board of Directors, was a key part of Rooney’s report to the assembly this week – and informed them of actions t... Full story
Dr. Greg Salard has been granted an extension of time to file a Reply Brief in appeal of a decision to withhold privileging at Wrangell Medical Center by the former hospital board. First District Court Judge Kevin Miller filed an order on Aug. 28 giving Salard until Sept. 20 to file documents in court challenging the decision to prevent him from practicing at the hospital. He is currently restricted to seeing patients at Alaska Island Community Services’ Tideline Clinic. The order gives Salard some breathing room in his pursuit of the a... Full story
The Wrangell Search and Rescue team swung into action on Sunday, Sept. 9 as they traveled up the Stikine River to extract a young man who had fallen from a moose blind. According to Chief Tim Buness of the Wrangell Volunteer Fire Department, the eight members of the SAR team were dispatched before dawn on Sunday, Sept. 9 to an area northeast of the borough. The teen had apparently been on a hunting trip with family when he attempted to climb down from the blind and slipped on steps that were wet from the extreme rains experienced last weekend....
The Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors met in a workshop setting on Sept. 5 in the lobby of the hospital to discuss a number of items related to the operation of the facility, and to revisit the hope that a new medical campus will be built in the borough. Borough Manager Tim Rooney gave the board – and residents of the borough – hope as he informed the group that the WMC renovation project was ready to move forward, contingent only upon approval of a new loan package from the US Dep...
The newly constituted Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors held their first meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 29 at City Hall to elect officers and plan for upcoming meetings as a group and with other officials. Board member Woody Wilson was elected as the president of the group over Bernie Massin in a 6-3 vote, with Terri Henson nominating Wilson and Dorothy Hunt-Sweat nominating Massin. During discussion, Hunt-Sweat spoke up first in favor of Massin. “My reason for suggesting Bernie is because... Full story
The Borough Assembly has entered into an agreement with PeaceHealth of Ketchikan to focus on interim management of Wrangell Medical Center, and to assist the city in the selection and hiring of an administrator at the hospital. Under the plan, Kendall Sawa, who is currently the Vice President of Patient Care Administration for PeaceHealth, would move from Ketchikan Medical Center to Wrangell to take the interim position while WMC searches for a new administrator. Sawa, a native of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada is a registered nurse and holds a... Full story
It was a busy night at City Hall on Tuesday, Aug. 28 as the Borough Assembly met in three sessions to hold a public hearing, certify the Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors special election results, and to meet in regular session on a number of items. The public hearing, which began the evening, was to hold a second reading of a proposed ordinance that would clarify oversight of the WMC board and their powers in operating the hospital. One proposed change would restrict the board to a... Full story
