By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Passage of a U.S. Senate bill this week to convey land to SEARHC comes as welcome news to the health consortium.
“We are grateful for the delegation’s leadership and support to unanimously pass S.550 and advance health care in our region,” Charles Clement, president and CEO of SEARHC, said in a press release Thursday. “This legislation ensures SEARHC can continue its mission to provide high-quality care in the communities we serve.”
Senate Bill 550, which passed unanimously on Wednesday, calls for conveying 10.87 acres of federal land on Japonski Island to the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium. The property described in the bill includes the Community Health Services building on Seward Avenue, and property at the corner of Seward Avenue and Tongass Drive near the Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center.
Highlighted are Lot 4, on Seward Avenue, and Lot 7, at the corner of Tongass Drive and Seward Avenue. (Image provided)
A spokeswoman from the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs said today the property is owned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
SEARHC has announced plans for building a new medical campus on the island to meet the needs of its expanded role as the health care provider for all of Sitka.
The consortium said the legislation will help the organization “continue advancing health care in the region and transform the nation’s oldest Native hospital into a 21st century medical facility equipped to meet the needs of Southeast residents and visitors.”
A House bill similar to S.550 has been assigned to the House Resources Committee, the Energy and Commerce Committee, and the subcommittee on Indigenous Peoples of the United States.
In its news release, SEARHC thanked Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young for their work on the legislation.
In both chambers, it’s called the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium Land Transfer Act.
SEARHC provides a number of services at Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center on Japonski Island, including hospital care, primary care, behavioral health, emergency care, dental care and optometry. SEARHC offers rehabilitation services and long-term care in the old Sitka Community Hospital building, and outpatient and other services at Mountainside Family Clinic and Sitka Medical Center as well.
“We’ve seen the value of having access to care on the Sitka side,” Dr. Elliot Bruhl, senior vice president and chief medical officer, said today.
The Japonski Island project timeline calls for opening the new expanded facility in 2024. The latest cost estimate for the project is $300 million.
The news release says “the modern health campus will feature improved acute and ambulatory services,” and “expand access to care and bring further community impact to Sitka.”
SEARHC has approached the city for the opportunity to purchase the Sitka hospital properties, at 209 Moller Drive, 202 and 204 Brady Street and 302 Gavan Street, and the city released a request for proposals today on the lease or purchase of those properties. (See related story.)
