Trauma Conference
Dear Editor: “Kids do well if they can” (Ross Greene, ‘‘Lost at School’’). If you are a business leader, elected official, elder, community member, educator or parent there is an opportunity this Saturday to learn from Dr. Linda Chamberlain and other leaders in the area of trauma-informed practices how we can support all of Sitka’s children to do well.
The direct link between experiencing trauma as a child and later challenges in life (such as chronic disease, obesity, lower completion rates in school, unemployment, etc.) has never been clearer, and these effects are starkly evident in Alaska. While we can all work together to prevent some trauma (for example, interpersonal violence, parental incarceration, child abuse and neglect, racism), some traumas cannot be avoided (such as illness or death in the family). Regardless of the cause, Alaska children experience more trauma at a younger age than children in other states.
It is a common misconception that really young children are oblivious to damaging life events: research shows the greatest impact of trauma often occurs in the youngest children. The good news is people can overcome trauma, and the most important lesson for most of us lies in learning to work with children who have experienced trauma to help them build resilience. There is no blame, there is only opportunity, including economic opportunity to decrease the load on our social service agencies in the future as we nurture resilient children who can overcome life’s obstacles.
As shareholders in our children’s success, we all can learn together at this conference how best to support the next generation. I hope a wide cross-section of Sitkans will be able to take advantage of this powerful opportunity to learn from leaders in this work at the Centennial Building 9 a.m. on Saturday.
Rebecca Himschoot, Sitka
Woman’s Club Thanks
Dear Editor: This is a letter of appreciation to the Sitka Woman’s Club, from Sitka Babies and Books, for their recent approval of a grant request for $250 to purchase board books which were given to the children who signed up for the Summer Reading Program.
Sitka Babies and Books encourages Sitka children to become lifelong readers by providing books and programs for them. We also offer parent education and support during the first three years of a child’s life, and provide a packet of information and a board book to all babies born at the Sitka Community and SEARHC hospitals.
We sincerely thank the Sitka Woman’s Club for their continued support.
Jane Seesz, Board Member,
Sitka Babies and Books
Hospital
Dear Editor: 1 struggling hospital + 1 struggling hospital = 1 successful hospital. Really?
Were SEARHC a model of a successful, responsive hospital, it might be different. Too many people, however, have experience with SEARHC’s failures, whether in billing, scheduling, or actual medical care. I am saddened beyond measure to see one of the sweetest aspects of life in a small town on the road to extinction.
Carin Adickes, Sitka
Community Hospital
Dear Editor: Listening to the ongoing discussion about the future of Sitka Community Hospital, it was a pleasant surprise to hear the clear message of Quorum Health Resources about the fiscal reality of this facility. Despite the wish of some Sitka residents to maintain two separate hospitals, it is not a financial reality. The current hospital has two huge problems and many other substantive ones.
The City and Borough of Sitka already faces an approximately $35 million liability for pension expenses when the hospital closes. The prior city Assemblies have not established a ‘‘sinking fund’’ to pay for a new building, which will cost close to $50 million to build and equip. The building has a fading lifespan, and had a roof replaced for about a million dollars a few years ago with most of the cost borne by the State of Alaska.
Immediate future costs include a new hospital-wide electronic health record expected to cost more than $5 million to implement, and a new CT scanner, which will cost close to $2 million to purchase and install. Deferred maintenance or other needed equipment also require funding. The demand by a few individuals to restart obstetrics at the hospital also meant further losses in operations while it was in place. The Sitka Community Hospital has been kept in business by a tobacco tax that raises over $750,000 annually to support the hospital, even though it does not recently provide smoking cessation services.
The citizens of Sitka declined to increase the property tax, even under the progressive plan put forth by the Assembly in very recent times. The city responded with significant cuts in the cost of their doing business, and consideration of further capital infrastructure reduction, such as gravel roads.
The absence of new funding, and the awareness that much of the medical care required by Sitkans is done by specialists in Anchorage and Seattle, means that the only fiscal reality is a single hospital. We already are worried about meeting the obligations of our schools with our current fiscal situation. Further losses or debt will not help this situation.
A generous offer has been made by SEARHC to build a new facility for our city, open to all citizens regardless of ethnic background, that would keep jobs for those at the hospital and lift the burden of the unfunded pension obligations from taxpayers’ shoulders. SEARHC will assume all financial risk and responsibility for health care services in Sitka. Kicking the can down the road will only mean increased financial woes for our city.
Myron ‘‘Ron’’ Fribush, M.D.,
Sitka
