Sorted by date Results 226 - 250 of 364
To the Editor: Being relatively new to Wrangell, it has been my pleasure to begin to know and understand this portion of Alaska. However reflecting upon this great and new to me area I must ask, why is there a web site called Work Place Alaska, when no employer seems to use it? Several jobs that I have applied to stated this lack of usage to the point of ignoring it altogether. We finally have a school that is warming up food in it's own kitchen to serve our students, hurrah for them, is it more then just defrosting and opening cans? I ask...
It’s official – the City and Borough of Wrangell has decided to purchase a 300-ton travel lift from Ascom S.p.A., an Italian manufacturer that recently won the bidding contest for the right to supply the Marine Service Center with its new haul out equipment. The decision to buy the new lift became official after the Borough Assembly approved the bid in a unanimous vote during their Jan. 8 regular meeting, which was their first of the New Year. Debate had initially raged about whether the Modena,...
A new mayor, renovations to the Shakes Island Tribal House and Marine Service Center, and the ongoing Wrangell Medical Center debate – all of these stories were newsmakers in 2012. Let’s take a look back at some of the biggest stories in Wrangell over the past year. JANUARY A late night blaze destroyed a trailer and sent a woman to Wrangell Medical Center with severe burns on Dec. 22. The fire, which began at 10:30 p.m. in a small pull-behind trailer near the top of the park, severely inj...
To the Editor: I read the letter to the editor from Wayne Spencer. Good job, but it sounds like you and I are the only ones concerned about it. I went to the council meeting and asked the mayor and all the council members, those exact questions. Don McConachie was the main one I questioned about giving our money to Rea, also who paid the city the $250,000. Our own insurance company paid it to the city. I also asked what and when the city was going to pursue charges against the old WMC board, he said they were not. Also when Dave Jack was...
Monday, Dec. 10 -Officer responded to an alarm, all was fine. -Vacation check request turned in. -Officer responded to civil issue. -Person reported MVA; officer responded and gave accident forms to both parties. -Verbal warning for driving habits. Tuesday, Dec. 11 -Officer responded to alarm going off, everything is secured. -Officer responded to traffic complaint. -Person reported being harassed. -Katy Taylor, 22, cited for dog at large. -Carly Allen, 38, cited for dog at large. -Gigi Torgramsen, 46, cited for dog at large. -Jeremy Michael...
To the Editor: Wrangell, many of you have prayed for and with us this past year since our son’s massive stroke, then aneurysm, craniotomy, cranioplasty and nine months later ruptured appendix. Many Wrangellites contributed financially to their need. This past Sunday their church, Mountainside Bible Chapel in New York, celebrated the one year mark of the stroke. It was a grand day, all of his current therapists and their families were there and upon being introduced the crowd gave them a standing ovation - they were touched and saw first hand ho...
The battle over a laptop computer and iPad device are still at the heart of a lawsuit filed by the City and Borough of Wrangell against former Wrangell Medical Center administrator Noel Rea and six former members of the WMC Board of Directors after a hearing showed attorneys for both sides debating the merits of a settlement conference in the matter. A hearing held Dec. 6 in Wrangell’s First District Court seemed at first to be an opportunity for all sides and their attorneys – Rea, the six rec...
For nearly the first twenty minutes – and a later part of the Nov. 28 meeting of the Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors – concerned citizens spoke up during public comment about the credentialing of Alaska Island Community Services physician Greg Salard and included a pointed request coming from the doctor himself. Salard, who has not worked in the medical center since losing his credentialing in March when the former board, acting as a “fair hearing committee” made the decisio...
One of the most discussed items on the agenda of the Nov. 28 Wrangell Medical Board of Directors involved money – and how the hospital is faring financially headed toward 2013. A report from WMC Chief Financial Officer Garth Hamblin stated that the hospital is operating at a loss from the previous year due mostly to a $520,788.58 payment made to former administrator Noel Rea after his firing in June – and that the numbers in the most current audit of the hospital are slightly deceptive. “Total assets, as you look at the balance sheet and other...
The progression of a court case against former Wrangell Medical Center administrator Noel Rea and six former members of the WMC Board of Directors was a main topic discussed this week during the regularly scheduled Borough Assembly meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 27. After coming out of executive session, Mayor Don McConachie informed the public that the Assembly had directed Borough Manager Tim Rooney and Borough Attorney Bob Blasco to continue in negotiations to settle the matter. The offer would...
A settlement in the City and Borough of Wrangell’s lawsuit against former Wrangell Medical Center administrator Noel Rea and six recalled members of the WMC Board of Directors will have to wait until at least early December. Attorneys David Shoupe and Jon Dawson, who represent Rea and the former board members and in the case respectively, asked Judge William Carey on Nov. 19 to schedule the hearing with the expectation that all parties will have agreed to the settlement – and that an iPad and...
Six Wrangellites have taken the first step into one of the fast-growing medical fields in the nation by completing a six-week course offered by Wrangell Medical Center that prepared them to sit for the CNA certification exam. The six local students - Rudy Briskar, Jennifer Clark, Cassandra Clark, Helen Molinek, Dale McMurren and Mieko Wenglikowski - recently completed the course. The CNA training offered at WMC is certified by the State of Alaska, which requires programs to have a minimum of 80...
The return of a laptop computer, iPad, and the scheduling of a hearing that might signal the end of the City and Borough of Wrangell’s lawsuit against former Wrangell Medical Center administrator Noel Rea and six former WMC board members was the topic of discussion during a status conference held Thursday, Nov. 8 in First District Court. The hearing, which was originally slated to be a scheduling conference for a trial in the matter, was changed to a status hearing last week when attorneys for the borough, Rea and the six recalled board m...
By Greg Knight Sentinel writer With the retirement of Olinda White as the Chief Financial Officer and interim administrator of the Wrangell Medical Center, a leadership vacuum has been left which required someone of capable shoes to fill – at least in terms of crunching numbers. Enter Garth Hamblin, who most recently served as the CFO of Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau. Hamblin, who has used his extensive experience in balancing the books for Bartlett for more than 20 years, said he has a...
Wrangell Medical Center has yet another new administrator at its helm while the City and Borough of Wrangell and PeaceHealth Ketchikan search for a new, permanent replacement for former hospital chief Noel Rea. Rea was fired on June 20 in a 6-1 decision by the former WMC Board of Directors – a decision that resulted in a lawsuit against Rea and the members voting for his dismissal. The new administrator, Marla Sanger, arrived in Wrangell last week and began her first day of work on Monday, N...
The Borough Assembly met in open session on Tuesday, Oct. 30 to appoint a new member to fill the vacancy left by member Don McConachie’s elevation to mayor, and also to hold the first reading of a proposed ordinance amending the city’s municipal code related to the Wrangell Medical Center. With McConachie absent, Vice Mayor Bill Privett was charged with chairing the meeting. Among three applicants – former assembly member Dave Jack, and Wrangell residents Patti Gilbert and Holly Levine – Jac...
The end could be in sight for litigation filed by the City and Borough of Wrangell against former Wrangell Medical Center administrator Noel Rea and six recalled members of the former WMC Board of Directors. In an Oct. 25 press release Borough Manager Tim Rooney said the case would reach its conclusion when all parties have signed an agreement spelling out terms that will see a return of funds to the city. “Based on direction provided by the Borough Assembly on the afternoon of October 8, 2012, the City and Borough of Wrangell has accepted a s...
To the Editor: Dear WMC Board Members, It is my sincerest hope that you will read and consider this letter during the course of your meeting tonight as I write, once again, in my never ending support of Doctor Salard and the members of our community and hospital staff. I have been an R.N. at Wrangell Medical Center since June of 2010. On the date I accepted my position, there were four full time physicians on staff at this hospital and available to our community. Thank Heavens for our wonderful Dr. Prysunka, who works brilliantly but...
The Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors met in open session on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at the James and Elsie Nolan Center to elect new officers after the Oct. 2 general election, to discuss the search for a new full-time administrator, and to provide an update on the construction of the new hospital on Wood Street. Before proceeding, elections were held for board positions – and each of the four members holding office; President Woody Wilson, vice president Bernie Massin, secretary Terri H...
Barbara Bigelow has been named as the interim administrator at Wrangell Medical Center after the departure of PeaceHealth’s original interim administrator Kendall Sawa, who announced on Oct. 10 his desire to make a move to Washington State. Bigelow, a native of Phoenix, Ariz., has lived in Alaska since 1979, and joined PeaceHealth in 1993. According to her biography on the PeaceHealth website, she has more than 30 years in healthcare management and brings a strong background in information manag...
Wrangell Medical Center recently received the Quality Achievement Award from Mountain Pacific Quality Health, the quality improvement organization that monitors a number of hospitals in the Pacific Northwest. The award was given after WMC earned a composite score of 95 percent for the two most recent quarters of data in four areas of hospital performance. From left: Olinda White, Alice Rooney, Sue Nelson, Diane Nore, Cathy Gross, Janet Buness, Dr. Lynn Prysunka, Donna Spencer and Michelle...
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and Wrangell Medical Center is encouraging women to focus on this important healthcare issue by offering reduced rate mammograms. Local women can save more than 45 percent off the regular price of a mammogram at WMC during the month of October. Ann Kramer, who heads the Imaging Department at WMC, describes the mammography process, “Women age 40 and older may self-request a screening mammogram by calling the WMC Imaging department to set up an appointment. Then, at the given time, check in with the r...
Monday, Oct. 8 -Trespass complaint. -Person came to PD to fill out vacation check residence. -Welfare check was requested on an individual. Tuesday, Oct. 9 -Title 47 WMC. -Caller reported suspicious circumstance, officer responded. Wednesday, Oct. 10 -Verbal warning for driving habits. -Report of people cutting trees and blocking roadway with no signs. Officer responded, orange cones clearly marking it and it is a tree thinning crew working. Thursday, Oct. 11 -Officer requested and dispatched, disorderly conduct warning given. -Citation issued...
According to Noel Rea and his attorney, an iPad at the center of a lawsuit filed against him and former Wrangell Medical Center board members is his to keep. The borough, which is suing Rea and six recalled members of the board over actions taken at their final meeting, is seeking the return of the iPad and Blackberry, which they claim contains evidence relevant to their case. Rea is saying the items are his and therefore protected from review by the city or its attorneys – and that he claims to own the iPad, having arranged to purchase it f...
CERTIFIED GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS October 2, 2012 Mayor Don McConachie - 303 David Jack – 301 Assembly Seat C James Stough* - 468 Assembly Seat D Pam McCloskey* - 504 Assembly Seat F Maxi Wiederspohn - 470 Billie Younce - 123 Port Commission Clay Hammer** - 134 School Board – 2 seats Tammy Groshong - 440 Krissy Smith - 312 Twyla Nore - 244 Kipha Valvoda - 81 WMC Board – 3 seats Marlene Messmer - 397 Barbara Conine - 379 Judy Allen - 372 Robert Henry - 366 * - Individual ran unopposed for their seat ** - Individual ran as a write-in candi...
