Eighth-Grade Picnic
Dear Editor: The eighth-grade class and teachers at Blatchley Middle School would like to thank the parents who donated time, money or items to throw a fantastic eighth-grade picnic. It was a good day filled with fun and laughter.
A big thanks goes to Lauren Allen for coordinating the picnic and being prepared with a back-up plan in case of bad weather.
We would also like to thank the following: Sea Mart, Allen Marine, Sam and Michalene Smith and Tracie and Trevor Harang for their generous donations. Finally, a shoutout to Halibut Point Recreation Area host Kendall, who had a nice hot bonfire going and set up a fabulous game of frisbee golf.
Eighth grade core teachers
Jeff Clay, Emily Demmert
Roxann Gagner, Julie Jordan
Kindness
Dear Editor: I want to say thank you to two kind men who stopped to change my flat tire for me on Wednesday afternoon by the bridge on Sawmill Creek Road.
It had been a busy day starting at 4 a.m. juggling kids and schedules. On that particular day and time, you were such a blessing to me, you didn’t have to take time out of your day to help me but you did and it meant so much.
Thank you, Richard and Aaron! Also the several other people who slowed their cars to check if we needed anything. Feeling blessed and proud to be a Sitkans.
Angie Bartolaba, Sitka
Hospitals’ Missions
Dear Editor: Sitka Community Hospital and SEARHC have incompatible mission statements, both legally and spiritually. From SEARHC’s mission statement: Alaska Native/American Indian preference states: In accordance with Public Law 93-638, Section 7b, “any contract, subcontract, grant or sub-grant pursuant to this Act or any other Act authorizing Federal contracts with, or grants to tribal organizations for the benefit of Alaska Natives/American Indians shall require that, to the greatest extent possible, preference, and opportunities for training and employment in connection with the administration of such contracts or grants shall be given to Alaska Natives/American Indians.’’
Therefore, SEARHC mission and resources go primarily to the Alaska Native population, and rightfully so.
The buyout of SCH by SEARHC puts the above mission statement in grave danger. Come to the Centennial Hall on May 30 at 6 p.m. to hear this discussion from SEARHC to the Sitka Assembly.
SEARHC will not be able to hire 200 employees of SCH in any capacity. SEARHC is unlikely to be prepared for the possibility of 6,000 more community patients as well as 2,000 plus visitors on cruise ship days in Sitka. The acquisition of this number of community-wide patients would need to be served only after the care of Native Alaskans/American Indians.
As of today, both hospitals have rampant instability of patient care. SEARHC has lost three of their surgeons in the last six months. SCH has lost their primary surgeon, Dr. Wein, and five other qualified doctors dedicated to SCH. That leaves no continuity in patient care across the board.
Young families and retired folks are pulling up stakes ... no access to community OB care, limited and or dangerous surgical services, an unusually high cost of groceries and electricity, sporadic and unstable access to good medical care. The school enrollment will be at a new low, schools will lose funding, new taxes will result to cover these gaps. Others are seeking medical care anywhere but Sitka.
The snowball rolls ever closer to a warm day. Once the community hospital is gone it is too late to recover.
I believe the fastest and smoothest way to keep SCH as a stand alone sustainable quality healthcare facility is to return our local and highly capable surgeon to SCH. Resume surgical services, resume OB, resume stability of patient care, and get out of the melting snowball mess that we are in now.
SEARHC has every right to serve the Native people first and foremost whenever possible.
Whether you are aware or not, this proposed buyout of SCH by SEARHC will have an effect on every citizen of Sitka. We need to listen to and support each other very carefully over the next several months. See you on May 30 to hear the SEARHC plan presented to the Sitka Assembly.
Mary Soltis, Sitka
Community Hospital
Dear Editor: The future of our Sitka Community Hospital hangs in the balance. This hospital belongs to the people of Sitka, and as a community, any decision regarding the hospital must be made by the people who live here.
With the May 30 date set for the SEARHC proposal to be presented to the Sitka Assembly to buy Sitka Community Hospital, (for that is what it is, not a ‘‘merger,’’ as has been presented, for a ‘‘merger’’ implies collaboration, and a mutually beneficial business model), we, the people, need to take a hard look at the facts of this critical, and complex issue.
Mr. Hudson’s letter of May 18 revealed the flaw of what is now in process, one buyer (SEARHC) without full assessed value having been determined; as well, the legality of the process by not having put the sale out for bid to other providers. If the future of SCH means anything to you as a citizen of Sitka, let us take an active role in this process, and come hear the SEARHC proposal, and the Assembly response, on May 30, at 6 p.m. at the Centennial building. It is a work session, so there will be no public commentary allowed; however, a Town Hall meeting, anticipated to occur in late July, at the earliest, will be scheduled after the Assembly has heard both the SEARHC proposal, and the SCH sustainability report (that has been outsourced to Stroudwater Associates for $67,000 plus expenses).
So, we must be patient, and not a ‘‘patient,’’ at this time when the SCH is in limbo waiting for the SEARHC outcome, including but not limited to chaos, low morale, an alarmingly high attrition rate of SCH employees due to lack of job security, lengthy wait times to see a doc, intermittent surgery, no OB starting in September (as if we don’t know babies take nine months to grow in the womb, and of course, one wouldn’t want to change horses in midstream), itinerant doctors, and what appears to have become a ‘bare bones’ facility.
There are many reasons why the SEARHC buyout is not in the best interest of our community, nor the tribal health consortium of 18 Native communities; they are manifold. As a potential ‘‘sole provider,’’ we would have no voice, and no choice. If our community were to go from two hospitals to one, there would be no competition, and it would not be uncommon for the cost of services at the remaining hospital to increase and quality to decrease. It would also not be uncommon for the remaining hospital to leverage its ‘‘sole provider’’ status to seek economic or other concessions from the community, simply because the community has no other option.
There are not 200 jobs available at SEARHC for the SCH employees, who must relocate, or change professions. It is not viable nor realistic for SEARHC to absorb the health care needs of 8,500 people; of course, they want Sitka’s patient base for increased federal funding as the ‘‘sole provider’’ in the region.
The collateral damage of losing SCH will result in the potential loss of our local pharmacies, and a diminished local population, as retirees and young families relocate for health care availability decisions, which will affect our schools, our tax base, our businesses, etc. Let us not forget that SCH is a revenue source; CEO Rob Allen cites a $33 million budget. Sounds like it could be a money maker. A new revitalized, reconfigured patient centered (not business centered) management model at SCH may be one solution that will build, strengthen and grow our community. Let’s get other options on the table.
Karen Lucas, Sitka
