Daily Sitka Sentinel

Hospitals Ready for Smooth Transition Day

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The official transition merging the services of Sitka Community Hospital with the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium takes place Thursday, concluding a process that has been under way for the past few months to make it go as smoothly as possible.
    “It’s ending with a whimper, not a bang,” Rob Allen said Tuesday, the day before his last day as CEO of Sitka Community Hospital. “There’s some cleanup going on, some training, the signs have changed. ... It’s kind of bittersweet. I’m happy the transition seems to be going smoothly.”
    Starting Thursday, SEARHC will be in charge of the acute, emergency, outpatient and long-term care services formerly provided by Sitka Community.

SEARHC maintenance workers, from left, Thomas Anderson, David Papoi and Ken Carley take down the old Sitka Community Hospital main entrance sign and install a SEARHC Long-Term Care sign Monday. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

    New signs are up at the locations of all of the facilities under the “SEARHC Care Network,” SEARHC officials said. Those include Sitka Long-Term Care in the community hospital building, Mountainside Family Clinic (next to the hospital), Mountainside Urgent Care (on the Halibut Point Road side of the hospital), and at Oceanside Physical Therapy (next to Sitka True Value).
    “Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center” is the new name for the SEARHC Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital.
    Some 135 employees from the Sitka Community Hospital workforce are poised to become employees of SEARHC, Allen said. (Last fall the hospital had 165 full-time equivalent positions, or more than 200 full- or part-time staff members, he said.)
    At SEARHC, marketing and communications director Maegan Bosak agreed with Allen that the transition was going well.
    “We’re very pleased with the transition process and excited to welcome new employees,” Bosak said. “The transition has begun. Teams have been working for months on the transition details and they’re coming together very well. ... We’re pleased with the progress.”
    Talks have taken place off and on over the years between the two hospital entities about merging or affiliating with each other, and picked up steam a few years ago. City officials, concerned about the increasing financial stress on the community hospital, worked with consultants on a way forward, and accepted their recommendation to seek a partner organization. After soliciting offers, the city selected the SEARHC offer to not only take over the city hospital’s health care business, but to expand it with new services and a brand new campus.
    The Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) approved by SEARHC and the city in April included upfront and annual payments to the city, and job offers to current Sitka Community employees. The SEARHC offer also called for building a new 25-bed acute care hospital, medical offices and a long-term care facility on Japonski Island. SEARHC is also leasing the community hospital building to continue offering long-term care.
    Assembly member Kevin Knox, one of five Assembly members voting in favor of the APA, said the transition is “bittersweet for me.”
    “It’s a hard thing for the community to see change, but I think this change will be extremely beneficial, with the expanded services SEARHC is beginning to offer, and the transition that’s happening with the affiliation,” he said. “As time goes, we’ll see a greater and greater benefit, for services offered in Sitka.”
    Valorie Nelson was one of two Assembly members voting against.
    “I hope it works for the sake of the community, but I’ve got my doubts,” she said. “I’ve been talking to a lot of long-term residents and they’re really concerned about going to SEARHC for care.  ... Change is difficult.”
    She said she looks forward to talking about her concerns in coming weeks with Chris Wolf, SEARHC vice president and hospital administrator.