SEARHC Home Health
Dear Editor: I appreciate the expressions of concern from many corners of our community regarding the care of patients in the home. These patients are some of the most vulnerable members of our community, and as I have said previously on multiple occasions, SEARHC will continue in our commitment to their care.
I want to reassure the community that all patients who have received care in our prior Home Health program continue to receive identical services through our new Outpatient Home-Based Services program. There has been no reduction or gap in these services. This program is staffed with the same highly trained and licensed professionals – doctors, nurses, and therapists who have provided care in the home in the past. We continue our partnerships in providing this care with Center for Community, and Southeast Alaska Independent Living (SAIL), and Brave Heart Volunteers (BHV).
The care of patients in the home during the end-of-life, in Sitka, has been largely through a collaboration between our professional staff ( mostly nursing) and BHV. We continue our partnership with BHV in this important work. (I also urge you to join me in personally supporting BHV with an annual contribution.)
Patients who require rehabilitation services in the home continue to receive physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech language therapy from our excellent staff at Mountainside Rehabilitation Clinic.
For more information or questions about Home-Based Therapy Services, please call 907.966.8576. For questions about SEARHC’s Outpatient Nursing/Medical Services, please call 907-966-8459.
In closing, I apologize to those of you who felt confused, disappointed, or angered by any of my previous communication regarding the administrative shift in our program. Our commitment to our patients continues unabated. Thank you for trusting us to care for you and your family.
Elliot Bruhl, MD, FAAFP
Chief Medical Officer
SEARHC
Affordable Connectivity
Dear Editor: Growing up in rural Alaska, I understood early the importance of communication technology to our communities. From community-run public radio to satellite internet, Alaskans have relied on a variety of means to connect with their neighbors and Outside. Today, broadband internet is an invaluable tool to provide opportunity and safety to our communities.
This new dependence is not unique to Alaska. In response to our nation’s increased reliance on high-speed internet, the Biden administration has taken important steps to provide connectivity to those that need it, particularly in rural areas. The most important step is the creation of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which over 16,000 Alaskan households are currently enrolled in. The ACP enables eligible Americans to afford broadband internet providing a monthly voucher which can be used on the cost of an internet subscription. When combined with the low-income offerings made available by many of the nation’s leading providers that participate in the program, the voucher can effectively provide families with free broadband.
But the ACP faces an existential threat that could eliminate internet access for the over 16,000 Alaskan households that rely on the program – its funding will run out sometime in 2024.
Extending its funding to ensure that the program continues to exist should be an urgent priority for lawmakers regardless of partisanship.
A CNBC poll earlier this year found that a significant majority of Americans across party lines support ACP. This is no surprise: data from the Technology Policy Institute shows that ACP sign-ups from Republican-represented and Democratic-represented Congressional districts are essentially the same. Even more, ACP is disproportionately impactful in in rural Alaska where median income levels are lower than they are in cities.
Politics aside, an end to the ACP would set us back years in our effort to overcome the affordability gap, a barrier that accounts for two-thirds of our nation’s digital divide. A solution to this discrepancy in access would have far-reaching benefits. A recent study reflected the economic benefits of increased broadband adoption for rural regions like Alaska, estimating that better adoption of online tools and digital services by businesses outside metropolitan areas could create 360,000 new full-time jobs in rural areas and add more than $140 billion to the U.S. economy over three subsequent years.
The persistence of the digital divide will continue to mean untapped prosperity for the American economy, and it’s not hard to understand why. Seemingly every industry stands to benefit by having access to high-speed internet and all of the essential resources that come with it. This means not only capabilities for remote working, but also access to information, so those working in sectors that are more hands-on and less computer-intensive can still utilize the internet to yield better results. An example of this could be a fisherman that relies on online resources for market prices, weather forecasts, fishing techniques, and maritime research, or a small business owner that utilizes online platforms to advertise their product and grow their brand.
Overall, I am hopeful that federal policymakers understand that combatting affordability barriers are an integral part of getting Americans online. Furthermore, I hope there is tangible action to prolong the Affordable Connectivity Program. With the program set to expire next year, we need to find a funding solution soon that keeps this critical program intact.
Alaska Rep. Forrest Dunbar
D-Anchorage
Home Health Care
Dear Editor: The following letter has been sent to SEARHC, Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Central Council of Tlingit and Haida, City of Sitka, Daily Sitka Sentinel and residents of Sitka.
Dear Editor: The Sitka Woman’s Club respectfully requests clarification on SEARHC’s plans for home health care going forward. The mission of our club includes championing humanitarian causes, and identifying and solving problems.
As humanitarians, we ask SEARHC leadership to hear from the community and provide clarity on how home health care will be achieved for all vulnerable Sitkans.
The Sitka Woman’s Club stands ready to co-organize and host this community discussion so that concerns can be heard and SEARHC’s position and plan regarding home health can be clearly communicated. We would encourage all community members and SEARHC to come to the table with an open mind, and willingness to work together to find collaborative solutions to this very concerning issue. The Sitka Woman’s Club remains committed to ensuring the most vulnerable Sitkans have access to the care they need.
Robin McNeilley, President,
Sitka Woman’s Club
Halibut Catch Rates
Dear Editor: I am a lifelong resident of Sitka. My father and I purchased halibut quota in the mid-1990s. I have fished out of a 19-foot skiff catching 10,000 pounds of halibut every summer.
As I slowly purchased more quota, a little bit at a time, I grew my boat size to a 34-foot gillnetter. At one point my quota was 15,000 pounds and it is now 7,000. This is a serious reduction. I want to make a point to the fisheries managers that I am seeing a serious decline in halibut population and size of fish to the point that I am worried the average fish is smaller than it will breed at.
There are few things I would like to propose to the halibut commission. First, higher fines for the sport charter fishermen, subsistence, personal use and sport resident. I understand there is low amount of enforcement manpower. We should use some tourist money for more enforcement manpower. Other thing we should do is lower the resident daily quota for halibut from two to one. The subsistence quota should be a three halibut on the boat at a time with a limit of five halibut per year per household.
And my last suggestion, 100-pound halibuts should never be landed. 100-pound halibut have excessive amounts of mercury if eaten often; in the 1970s fish buyers would not buy them.
If something is not done soon there is not going to be many more halibut left. Halibut is a slow-growing fish and does not quickly replenish its population. Now is our time to act.
Thank you for listening to my proposals. I am seeing the decline in halibut since I started fishing in the 1990s. It’s a huge concern and needs to be addressed.
Fabian Grutter, Sitka
