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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...
The jury trial of a Wrangell man for a 2011 assault is now on hold after an indictment against him was dismissed in First District Court. Steven Marshall, 53, who was arrested on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011 at a residence in the Bloom Trailer Court after Wrangell Police Department officers responded to an argument between him and his girlfriend, will not go to trial next week as originally planned after Judge William B. Carey dismissed the indictment because of an error in the instructions given to...
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...
Now that you have been re-elected, what is the most important issue you see facing Wrangell, and how do you intend to deal with it in the Legislature? I think the issues facing all of Southeast Alaska are, basically, similar. We need to improve our economy and make ourselves attractive to new business ventures and increase the population of Southeast. There are three ways to do this; when a business comes into an area, they look at three things. First, they look to see if there are good...
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...
With their trip to Haines last weekend, the Wrangell High School Drama, Debate and Forensics team is mid-season in regional competitions involving teams from Ketchikan, Sitka, Mt. Edgecumbe, Juneau, Thunder Mountain and Haines. Wrangell's two Debate teams, comprising Tyler Eagle and Matthew Covalt, and Lorenzo Silva and Blaine Wilson, both won seven debates in the last two Sitka and Haines tournaments. The team of Eagle and Covalt also previously won four debates in Juneau before the second...
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...
Prosecutors in the criminal case against Wrangell resident Steve Marshall have opposed a motion to dismiss his case based on his attorney’s argument that the indictment against him is unconstitutional. Marshall’s attorney, Michael Heiser, filed a motion to dismiss a series of charges against his client in late September, contending the indictment contained language that was unconstitutional and prejudicial by directing them to return an indictment rather than giving them an option to not file ch...
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...
A slander and web-based defamation case brought by Dr. Greg Salard against a Wrangell resident will go forward, with a trial date set for early next year – but an offer to settle is on the table. First District Court Judge Kevin Miller ruled on Monday, Oct. 15 that Salard’s case against Lisa Gillen would be heard on April 22, 2013 in Wrangell’s First District Court. The case, which was initially filed on July 13, alleges that Gillen made statements in an online Facebook chat session about the physician, his family, and his ability to pract...
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...
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...
A business plan for The Wrangell Community Market, written by a University of Alaska Center for Economic Development graduate student, Jamie Arnett, was submitted to the Farmers Market Promotional Program, through the Wrangell Medical Center, at the end of last month. According to Borough Manager Tim Rooney, city staff through planning and implementation of the pilot farmers market, which took place in Wrangell this year, provided assistance in the development of the business plan. “The main goal of a farmers market in Wrangell is to make f...
The Borough Assembly met in open session on Tuesday, Oct. 9 – and featured the return of Don McConachie as Mayor of the city – a position he held when Wrangell was incorporated as a borough in 2008. Assembly member Bill Privett was appointed as Vice Mayor, with Mayor McConachie appointing a number of Wrangell residents to various board and commission positions currently vacant. McConachie also directed Borough Clerk Kim Flores to seek out letters of intent from individuals seeking to be appointed to the assembly seat left vacant by his ele...
Assembly member Don McConachie was elected Mayor in Tuesday’s election by the thinnest of margins, with only two votes separating him and now former Assembly member David Jack. After the votes were tallied – and with eight fax votes making the difference in the election – McConachie wasted no time in announcing his intentions on moving the city and borough forward. “This is an exciting day,” McConachie said. “But, now we have to put Wrangell back into good stead with the state, and we need to ad...
The process for Dr. Greg Salard to possibly regain privileging at Wrangell Medical Center began last week during a closed-door executive session meeting of the WMC Board of Directors. On Wednesday, Oct. 3, the board met for review and possible action regarding his credentialing at the hospital. Salard lost his bid to retain his interim privileging after the previous WMC board voted on April 15, 2011 to suspend his privileges at the hospital. Because of an Alaska State law excluding reporting actions regarding credentialing matters, WMC board...
With school back in session and fall quickly approaching, the beginning of flu season is right around the corner. In years past, the Wrangell Public Health Center has made immunizations available to the community; however the State of Alaska has recently changed its policy and, for the second year running, will no longer be offering flu immunizations to adults at the Front Street clinic. The vaccine will still be available to infants and children, however. There has been a community planning...
