Home Health
Dear Editor: Last year when the bad news went out that the Medicare Certified Home Health Department was being shut down, I was shocked! I thought, how could SEARHC do that?! They always talk about the importance of excellent care, services and respect for the elders. I wasn’t the only one who was upset and shocked. Over 650 people signed a petition requesting SEARHC to reinstate the Medicare Certified Home Health Department, but to no avail. Apparently it fell on deaf ears.
Last month I attended an “annual meeting,” held on Zoom, where Sitkans are given the opportunity to testify and speak directly to the SEARHC leadership. By requiring people to attend the meeting on Zoom, SEARHC effectively sidelined a large number of interested people who would have otherwise attended in person. Not only that, but the number of people who were allowed to testify was intentionally small, only fifteen total. SEARHC minimized the community’s ability to participate by allowing so few people to testify, and mandating that it be on Zoom. How does SEARHC consider this to be a representative sample of the community?
The very fact that this meeting was held on Zoom should tell the community something – and that something has to do with whether or not SEARHC really wants to give the community an honest opportunity to speak and be heard. How many elders do you know who relish the idea of talking in front of a large group, on an electronic device and platform they are unfamiliar with? Consider that the closure of the home health department primarily affects elders, a vulnerable population. This does not speak to positive patient advocacy and respect.
For me, the most telling moment at that Zoom meeting came when Dr. Bruhl stated that SEARHC was not even entertaining the idea of reinstating home health. I wish I could say I was again shocked, but honestly, I expected as much at this point. It is very clear this is about money, not about the community. When SEARHC’s CEO earns $2.4M and received a $1M pay increase in a year, while at the same time the staff earned-time-off (PTO) is cut, SEARHCs priorities become obvious and transparent.
SEARHC was just going through the motions by letting the community have a small, tightly controlled opportunity to give feedback. But the decision had already been made, regardless of how unpopular it is, or the impact on elders. Sadly, it appeared from the outset that best interest of the community wasn’t a priority, or an alternative meeting format would have been held. Will SEARHC allow this annual meeting to be changed to a more frequent schedule and friendlier format in the future?
I recall the night last fall when Dr. Bruhl got up and spoke in front of the Assembly, emphatically assuring people that the in-home services were going to be just as good as the previous Home Health. I knew that for those who are not trained in medical care, what he was saying probably made sense and sounded reasonable. But if you have a background in medicine, nursing, or Home Health, then it was immediately clear that what he was saying was a lot of half-truths, to obscure the reality. You cannot run top-notch in-home services without a fully staffed and coordinated Care Management team, which includes a number of staff nurses. The model installed by Dr. Bruhl for in-home services is not even a close equivalent to the level of home care the community previously had.
So SEARHC shut down a top-notch home health department and now we are getting piece-meal, pay as you go, in-home services. Those services are provided primarily by excellent physical therapists and an excellent single nurse, but which may be unaffordable to some. I truly would love to believe Dr. Bruhl and take him at his word. However, that night at the Assembly meeting he also stated that he was a founder of Brave Heart Volunteers, which is blatantly untrue. So it is very hard for me to believe in him or his words at this point.
The need for Medicare Certified Home Health Services is not going away, that is for sure. And the desire for compassionate medical care to die in the home setting is not going away either. Sitka is an aging community whose serious health care needs will only continue to increase.
So rather than SEARHC’s leadership being overwhelmed by the volume of paperwork it took to run a Medicare Certified Home Health, or stressing on the lack of income to be made off the elders and disabled community members with a Medicare reimbursement schedule, let’s start talking about making sure that there is enough money and expertise at SEARHC to do the best thing for the community and the elders.
The best thing for the community, and the best solution is to go back to the Certified Medicare model that people loved, provided good care, was affordable, and worked very well. Reinstate a top notch Home Health Department! It’s not easy, but definitely doable. SEARHC is designated as a not-for-profit. This means they enjoy tax breaks which are intended to be reinvested in the community, not their personal bank accounts. Most Sitkans agree, reviving home health would be an excellent way to invest in community well being, as well as our future.
Auriella Hughes, RN (retired)
Founding Executive Director
Brave Heart Volunteers
Reproductive Rights
Dear Editor: In our 12th year as an organization, Ramshackle Cabaret had the distinct pleasure to stage our 10th big performance earlier this month, with “Throbbin’ Wood.” Our mission has been to provide daring, different and titillating entertainment, but most importantly, to support sexual health and reproductive rights for everyone in our community and state. Cabaret and burlesque have always been a platform for provocative ideas and progressive politics. Ramshackle Cabaret is no exception.
It’s surreal to think we’ve been providing a safe and entertaining space for provocative and ludicrous entertainment for over a decade: we’ve had so many amazing performers on stage over the years, from our very ramshackle beginnings at Odess Theater to today in Harrigan Centennial Hall. All of the time and talent that goes into each show: choreography, writing, dancing, set construction, costumes and makeup, advertising, advocating - collectively, hundreds of hours of love and labor - is volunteer. And this year at “Throbbin’ Wood,” more than 600 people came out to support Ramshackle Cabaret and most importantly, to support sexual health and reproductive rights in Sitka and across the state. We are truly humbled and honored to be a part of such a community as this.
Twelve years in, more than $115,000 donated, and we still have an uphill climb ahead of us. While our state Constitution protects reproductive choice as a fundamental right for all Alaskans, the state Constitution can be changed. The overturning of Roe vs. Wade has presented a threat to reproductive rights in every state.
We’ve all seen the news recently with legislation being passed in Alabama and other states, defining personhood as the point of conception. This harms people whether or not they support the right to an abortion. It harms women and men who seek to grow their family through the use of IVF therapy – with many doctors now stopping treatment, worried at the legal ramifications of the failed or unused embryos as part of the procedures. And it harms the women who find themselves pregnant, and choose to end that pregnancy for any one of myriad reasons.
In Alaska, House Bill 107 has been introduced, which means to legally define when “life and personhood” begins. While not a direct threat to the full reproductive rights of Alaskans, it could set a dangerous precedent that erodes away at our constitutional right.
As uphill as this road is, as numerous as these new obstacles seem – we are still here fighting for equal rights and protections for all. This year, Ramshackle Cabaret will donate $7,000 to Sitkans Against Family Violence, $6,500 to Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates of Alaska and $6,500 to the Northwest Abortion Access Fund. Each of these organizations works to ensure that bodily autonomy, especially reproductive autonomy, is supported, respected and protected for everyone. It is our privilege to help support them in their work.
While there are more people to thank than this column has room for, we would like to mention in particular: Ellen Frankenstein and ArtChange Inc, Carla Whiteside, Elle Campbell, Bryan Lovett, Caitlin Blaisedell, Judson Rusk, Andrew Jylka of Southeast Dough Co, Gretchen Stelzenmuller of Enoki Eatery, Patrick O’Donnell, Mary Magnuson and Mean Queen staff, the Sitka Police Department and the staff of Harrigan Centennial Hall. And of course, many thanks to our amazing cast and crew who continue to bring such creativity and talent to the stage each year.
Thank you, Sitka, for supporting us as we continue to bring ridiculous and provocative entertainment to the stage, and support sexual health and reproductive rights for all.
Erin Fulton on behalf of the
Ramshackle Cabaret leadership team
