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Wrangell Medical Center CEO Marla Sanger updated the Wrangell Borough Assembly on the hospital’s financial situation at its Tuesday evening meeting. “We are solvent. We’re just being very cautious,” she said. In December, Sanger and acting CFO Olinda White approached the Assembly to reveal the hospital was experiencing financial difficulties. An annual audit had, among other concerns, reported finding a $3.5 million loss in written-off costs related to the hospital’s previous bid to build a new facility. “I don’t think our financial sit...
Samuel Raymond Privett (Sam) died on February 13, 2015. He was born December 17, 1922, in Ava, Missouri. He spent his youth helping his father, Everett, and mother, Elsie, work their farm. After graduation, he worked with his brother, Marvin. They traveled the states working on combines, cutting wheat and corn. Sam joined the Army after Pearl Harbor and was deployed to help re-take the Philippines after it was invaded. He received two bronze stars and a purple heart for being wounded. Sam's...
Former Wrangell physician Greg Salard appeared Monday in U.S. District Court before Judge Timothy Burgess in Juneau for a hearing to postpone trial. A new trial date has been set for May 26. Salard was arrested at his Wrangell home last October and indicted by a federal grand jury on two felony counts of sexual exploitation of a child, for distributing and possessing child pornography. He is pleading not guilty to both charges. He was previously scheduled to stand trial Jan. 5, when his defense...
Residents wishing to have one or more of the five screenings offered as part of April’s Health Fair will be able to have their blood drawn at the Wrangell Medical Center lab early, starting on Feb. 23 and continuing through March 25. The targeted screenings being offered include tests for one’s health profile, prostate specific antigen, thyroid stimulating hormone, HA1C, and Vitamin D. Would-be subjects can visit during regular business hours Monday through Friday, though the lab will also open at 7 am on Tuesday and Thursday during these weeks...
Executive staff with Wrangell Medical Center met with the Borough Assembly members for a work session at City Hall late Tuesday afternoon. WMC CEO Marla Sanger, acting financial officer Olinda White and human resources head Mary Jo Pullman came to answer questions Assembly members might have relating to the hospital's finances. White had first informed them of WMC's low cash reserves and high receivables in mid-December, then delivered a presentation to the hospital's board of trustees shortly afterward. In an independent audit conducted last...
It was back to the drawing board for a new multi-year fee schedule at the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board’s monthly meeting Feb. 4. The Wrangell Borough Assembly rejected proposed schedule increases put forward at last month’s meeting, saying a number of the rates seemed too high. “Afterwards we decided let’s get together and hash this out,” said the department’s director, Amber Al-Haddad. A public meeting was held jointly with the Assembly on Jan. 21, gathering further feedback on where the new rates ought to be set. “I’ve put together so...
Wrangell Medical Center's board examined a preliminary draft of its budget for next year and were updated on the hospital's finances during its monthly meeting Jan. 21. Over the next couple of years, the board was told WMC's financial staff plans to work on lowering its receivables from around $4 million to a target of $2 million, by working more closely with Medicaid on getting bills repaid, pursuing payment from families and self-pay customers with current outstanding bills, and training...
A bit short-handed at its regular Tuesday-night meeting, Wrangell City and Borough Assembly nonetheless reviewed the first readings of several ordinance revisions. Members Becky Rooney, David Mitchell, Daniel Blake and Mayor David Jack discussed a proposed ordinance No. 893, relating to weapons and discharge of firearms within the Borough limits as well as adding a section regarding abuse of the 911 emergency system. The proposal would strike much of the rules previously on the books relating to concealed weapons and carrying loaded firearms,...
KETCHIKAN (AP) – An autopsy has been ordered for a 20-year-old Wrangell man who died of injuries suffered in a Ketchikan jail. Alaska State Troopers say Brendon Sample on Thursday attempted to hang himself with a bed sheet while alone in a cell at Ketchikan Correctional Center. Corrections staff found him unresponsive. He was taken to Peace Health Ketchikan Medical. He stayed in the intensive care unit until 1 a.m. Friday, when he was flown to Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage. Sample was pronounced dead Saturday in Anchorage. Online c...
An ordinance amending Thomas Bay Power Advisory Committee's role in Wrangell's Municipal Code passed the Wrangell City and Borough Assembly on first reading. A second reading featuring a public hearing will be held on Jan. 27. The principal change would make the committee advisory to the Wrangell and Petersburg assemblies. This follows the transfer of Lake Tyee hydroelectric power management to Southeast Alaska Power Agency last summer. Borough Clerk Kim Lane explained the proposal was first drafted by Petersburg and submitted to Wrangell for r...
After spending seven terms in the Alaska State House, Wrangell's long-serving Rep. Peggy Wilson announced her intention to retire last April, declining to run for reelection in November's general election. "It's really family more than anything else," she explained. One concern is the health of her mother, who lives in Iowa. "I was only getting to see my mom twice a year. That really got me thinking." Wilson described politics as very time-consuming, limiting the time she had to spend with her...
Kicking things off with a new borough manager in Jeff Jabusch, 2014 for Wrangell was not only a period of changes, but also one of building and continued development. Pavement was poured at the Marine Service Center, a number of roads were resurfaced or due to eventually see improvement, and the city was able to showcase itself to other regional communities by hosting several prolific functions. January Wrangell Cooperative Association collected 210 registrations for Tlingit-Haida members at...
Wrangell Medical Center’s finances seem to be in a tight spot, its board of trustees learned at a Dec. 17 meeting. In an independent audit conducted by BDO USA in Anchorage, the hospital’s assets were totaled at $6.1 million, down from $10.4 million the previous year. The biggest loss was from $3.5 million in written-off costs relating to a previous effort to build a new hospital, in addition to those related to depreciation of property and equipment value. The hospital’s expenses are up as well, rising from $8.7 million to $10.4 milli...
Wrangell Borough Manager Jeff Jabusch presented a plan to streamline contracting for small projects to the City and Borough Assembly at its meeting Tuesday evening. The new policy being proposed would first create a pool of qualified contractors who can be hired by the city when needed, while also presenting them an equal opportunity to participate in public jobs. To accomplish this, the plan would call for contractors to be called up in rotation based on the kinds of projects they are capable of undertaking. Contractors wishing to be included...
Vernon Andrew Johnson passed away on Dec. 2, 2014 at the age of 94 at Wrangell Medical Center surrounded by his three daughters: Betty Jo Johnson of Anacortes, Wash., Judi Johnson Tsai of Mechanicsville, Md. and Susan Johnson Eagle of Wrangell, Alaska. Born as one of triplets on May 18, 1920 in Lexington, Neb., he grew up in Wheatridge, Colo. and Kirkland, Wash. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1941 and proudly served in WWII. He always had a wanderlust and survived numerous adventures including...
A new practitioner has been hired by Alaska Island Community Services in Wrangell. Cynthia Mattoni is the community health center’s new advanced nurse practitioner, specializing in family practice. Mattoni comes from Cleveland, Ohio, where she has five years’ experience in the emergency room. Her career in the medical field began in 1987, when she joined the United States Navy as a hospital corpsman. She then worked for 18 years in various critical and emergency care settings as a registered nurse. The addition of her position will help pro...
The trial of Greg Salard has been pushed back by seven weeks to Feb. 23, 2015, following a request for delay by his defense attorney. Originally set for Jan. 5, Salard's federal defense attorney Cara McNamara wanted the jury trial's date moved so an expert in computer forensics can review the evidence gathered by prosecutors. The former physician is facing two felony counts of sexual exploitation of a child after being arrested at his Wrangell home Oct. 15 by state, local and federal law...
Autumn came to a sudden end as a low pressure system swept Southeast over the weekend, bringing a heaping helping of snow to Wrangell. Forecasters with the National Weather Service issued a weekend winter storm warning Saturday for Juneau, Petersburg, Wrangell and Hyder. A low pressure system pushed across the Gulf of Alaska, bringing warm, moist air into the area and creating the potential for blizzard conditions. In Juneau and Petersburg, about ten inches of snowfall was recorded over the...
A pair of staff committees met this past month at Wrangell Medical Center, formed to improve response to patient falls on site and improve emergency preparedness. At the monthly meeting of its board of trustees on Nov. 19, hospital head Marla Sanger reported the falls committee was formed with representatives of the nursing, physical therapy, quality, and maintenance departments, as well as a community patient advisor. She said a federal follow-up visit the previous week confirmed WMC has dealt with a problem with its patient wheelchairs. The s...
Wrangell Medical Center staff released information Tuesday that it will be strengthening their preparations for handling infectious diseases on the island. While the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has brought the subject to the world’s attention, diseases that require similar infection control responses such as measles have been making a resurgence in the United States. The Center for Disease Control reports nearly 600 cases of measles since January, spread among 22 states including California, Oregon and Washington. Since this is more than t...
Former Wrangell physician Greg Salard appeared in U.S. District Court in Juneau on Oct. 28 to be arraigned for the alleged possession and distribution of child pornography. Salard was later indicted by a federal grand jury on two felony counts of sexual exploitation of a child, for distributing and possessing child pornography. According to a press release issued by the U.S. District Attorney’s office, if convicted of distribution Salard faces a maximum statutory penalty of not less than five and up to 20 years imprisonment. If convicted of pos...
On the morning of Oct. 15, Wrangell physician Greg Salard was arrested for the alleged receipt, possession and distribution of child pornography following a search of his home by law enforcement personnel representing federal, state and local agencies. According to an affidavit in support of application for an arrest warrant, the arrest came following a five-month investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Anchorage office in which FBI Special Agent Anthony Peterson monitored...
Officer positions were decided at the Wrangell Medical Center Board's monthly meeting Oct. 15. Present were Judy Ellen, Barb Conine, Bernie Massin, Cori Robinson and Dorothy Sweat, while among those teleconferencing in were members Woody Wilson and Terri Henson. Wrangell Medical Center's executive Marla Sanger presided over the meeting to begin with, while the board elected its new officers following the Oct. 7 election. Henson nominated herself to again serve as board president, which was unanimously approved. Massin was nominated and elected...
The Wrangell School Board scarcely had a quorum at its Monday evening meeting when it reappointed its officers following the results of the Oct. 7 local election. Susan Eagle was re-elected by voters, and after a unanimous 3-0 vote was reinstated as board president. Board members Rinda Howell and Tammy Groshong were named as vice-president and secretary, respectively. The three then decided to appoint Aleisha Mollen to replace Krissy Smith who resigned last month from the school board. Mollen had run for the same seat as Eagle during the...