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With eight members of the Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors facing recall in a June election, tensions were high among members of the board, supporters of the recall effort, and citizens of the borough at the directors’ most recent meeting at WMC. At the May 23 meeting, board member Jim Nelson inquired of CEO Noel Rea whether allegations of WMC losing as many as 10 beds if the hospital is forced to update to current ADA standards was a “scare tactic.” “I think when the (general obligation) bond question came up everyone started...
Letter to the Editor: For the past four years my husband Russ and I have had the privilege of visiting your small town and being the auctioneer (Russ) for the fundraising auction for the Wrangell Medical Center. We have found everyone we meet to be most welcoming and friendly and would like to commend the people of Wrangell for their hospitality to visitors. Thank you all for making our stay so enjoyable. A big thank you to Police Chief Doug McCloskey for being such a good sport about the new hair cut. The half moustache was a bonus. Wrangell...
Wrangell is one step closer to a budget as the Borough Assembly passed their 2012 draft budget with little fanfare last week during their regular session meeting at City Hall. Comment came, however, during the public hearing held before the regular meeting – and saw one local businessman asking for a reduction in the current 7 percent sales tax levied on goods and services sold in Wrangell. Ernie Christian, manager of Otteson’s True Value, asked the board whether a reduction to 5 percent might be feasible for the community. “Thinking back...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met in open session last week to take up a number of new agenda items and included discussion on the formation of a hiring committee to help in choosing a successor to current Borough Clerk Christie Jamieson. Jamieson, who has spent the past three decades in service to the borough, plans on retiring from her position in the beginning of July. The committee, which consists of Jamieson, Borough Manager Tim Rooney, Mayor Jeremy Maxand, and Assembly members Pam...
A special recall election set for June 19 is asking voters to determine the fates of eight members of the Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors. The election, which is seeking the ouster of all board members except Dorothy Hunt-Sweat, may have a larger effect, however, than changing the composition of the hospital’s leadership team – it may signal a change in the support of the USDA and their backing of a $24.7 million loan to finance the construction project. According to Jim Nor...
Do you know of a Wrangellite who has made a positive impact on the health of our community? Is there a neighbor out there who labors to help our children grow healthier or our elders enjoy the benefits of eating well and regular physical activity, someone who works hard and may not be recognized for their efforts? The Janet Buness award would be a wonderful way to recognize them and let them know that someone has noticed. This award is for a person(s) in Wrangell who has improved the health of Wrangell. This can be a direct provider (i.e. nurse...
Alaska Superior Court Judge Kevin G. Miller has denied a local physician’s request to be allowed to work at Wrangell Medical Center pending the court’s decision on his appeal to having his privileges at the hospital denied. In March, the WMC Board denied Dr. Greg Salard the right to see patients at the hospital. Salard soon filed an appeal in Wrangell Trial Court. He also requested the court allow him to work at WMC while his appeal is considered. In his order filed Friday, April 27, Miller states WMC followed the required procedures set out...
At a special meeting Tuesday, the Assembly voted 4-3 in favor of a resolution that creates a special election in Wrangell June 19, allowing the public to vote on whether or not the majority of the hospital board should be recalled. Unlike the Assembly’s vote on the resolution last week, four Assembly members voted “yes” on the resolution Tuesday night. All Assembly members were present for the special meeting. Assembly members Bill Privett and David Jack spoke in favor of passing the resolution Tuesday. Privett said those who filed the recal...
Members of Junior Girl Scout Troop #4156 couldn’t resist jumping in the pile of leaves they raked on April 25 near the Wrangell Medical Center. Along with raking, the troops planted flowers and fertilized in front of the hospital. After the gardening work, the troop visited with residents in WMC’s long-term care facility. Back row: (Left to right) Karri Buness, Madison Blackburn, Jing O’Brien. Middle Row: (left to right) Danika Smith, Maddy Harding, Kaylyn Easterly, Sophie O’Brien, Laura H...
The Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) wants to bring back an Anchorage attorney to lead a workshop on Alaska’s Open Meeting Act. In early March, the City and Borough of Wrangell hosted two free days of training on the state law. The classes, open to the public, were taught by Michael Gatti, an attorney who works for a private firm in Anchorage, and Krista Stearns, who serves as the city attorney in Kenai. At its meeting last month, the WMC Board of Directors agreed to bring Gatti back to Wrangell to lead a workshop for board members on the Open M...
One came from Janell Privett, whose request includes a list of 14 items of information including WMC’s total expenditures on various legal fees and travel expenses for hospital administration and board members. Privett initially made her Freedom of Information (FOI) request in writing to WMC Chief Executive Officer Noel Selle-Rea March 19. She came to the Board meeting last week to ask the WMC Board members to reconsider her request for information — what hospital staff has estimated would total 6,000 pages in documents. If her request is fulfi...
On Tuesday night, the Assembly voted 3-2 on a resolution that will create a special election June 12 regarding the recall petitions filed against eight of the nine Wrangell Medical Center Board members. Early Wednesday morning the City and Borough of Wrangell announced that vote no longer counts, as it was determined four “yes” votes were needed. “An affirmative vote of four members of the assembly is required for adoption of a resolution,” the Wrangell municipal code states. Borough Clerk Christie Jamieson said Wednesday afternoon the Assembl...
The Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors has decided to distribute a questionnaire regarding WMC Chief Executive Officer Noel Selle-Rea’s annual performance evaluation. At the April 18 WMC Board meeting, Board President Mark Robinson said in the past, evaluations of WMC CEOs have been either “painful” or “non-existent.” “This year, I decided I want to get more quantitative in the process,” Robinson said. The main outcome of the performance evaluation is to hopefully create a planning document that can help the WMC Board and CEO “improve...
To the Editor: I’ve managed to avoid weighing in about Lynn Campbell’s letters to the editor until I’ve nearly bitten off my tongue. I have always respected Lynn. She and her late husband have done so many wonderful things for this town that there are few people who would dare question her judgment. I’ve tried keeping my mouth shut out of respect for her, but I just can’t continue to do so. The following paragraph of Lynn’s first letter really set my hair on fire — not that the other rationalizations, attacks, and inconsistencies aren’t also i...
At its April 18 meeting, some members of the Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) Board of Directors discussed the petitions filed with the city, which seek to recall eight of the nine board members. The signatures on the petitions were found to be sufficient by the Borough Clerk earlier this month. And, on Tuesday, the Assembly considered an ordinance to create recall ballots for a special election in June. WMC Board Vice President Jim Nelson, who is included in the petitions, told those gathered in the packed hospital boardroom last week he has enjo...
The Wrangell Medical Center will be purchasing a new mammography machine for the hospital that will be paid for entirely through grants. The machine, which takes x-rays of breast tissue and is used to screen for breast cancer, will cost $99,999, and WMC has received $100,000-worth of grants to buy it. The grants came from a number of organizations including Alaska Run for Women, American Seafoods, First Bank and Fred Meyers. The largest grant WMC received to purchase the mammography machine came from the Denali Commission in the amount of...
Members of the Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors were at the Stikine Inn last Friday morning meeting with members of the public over coffee. The hour-and-and-a-half session marked the first of what is to be a weekly occurrence, giving members of the public the opportunity to talk one-on-one with hospital board members, the majority of whom have had recall petitions filed against them. WMC President Mark Robinson and Vice President Jim Nelson were the two hospital board members present...
The Borough Assembly failed to pass an ordinance Tuesday that would have changed the eligibility requirements for members of the Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) Board of Directors. The ordinance would have allowed hospital employees, tenants of the hospital’s long-term care facility, and any contractor of the hospital to run for the WMC Board. Currently, the ordinance prohibits those people from serving on the board. The Assembly voted 3-3 at its meeting Tuesday night to pass the ordinance on its second reading. Because of the tie, the ordinance...
The eight petitions asking to recall members of the Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) Board of Directors have been certified by the Borough Clerk Christie Jamieson. The petitions could now move forward to a special election, allowing the residents of Wrangell to vote if they want eight of the nine WMC Board members recalled. Ballot propositions in the form of ordinances have to be prepared and approved by the Borough Assembly to become recall ballots for a special election, Jamieson said at Tuesday’s Assembly meeting. Those ordinances will be p...
To the Editor: There is no finer example of small town politics than Wrangell. Mistrust, rumors, false accusations, lies, and some truths all blended together. Today I received an email from a former resident who lamented on all the negativity posted by Wrangell residents to Facebook. This person lived here over forty years and follows local news. He would like to blame weather, rain, and dark dreary days as the cause but it is his observation that no other community in all of SE Alaska acts like this. It is sad. I received my Wrangell...
The Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) Board of Directors has responded to the recall petitions recently filed with the City and Borough of Wrangell. The petitions ask to recall eight of the nine WMC Board members, including Chair Mark Robinson, Vice Chair Jim Nelson and Linda Bjorge, Sylvia Ettefagh, Jake Harris, Lurine McGee, Dee Norman, and LeAnn Rinehart. The WMC Board petition response addresses the charges filed alongside the recall petitions, stating the Board had violated the Wrangell Municipal code in three instances. The WMC Board petition...
The 18th annual Wrangell Health Fair was held Saturday, April 7 at the Nolan Center. The fair featured over 50 vendors and offered visitors the opportunity to have four different blood tests for $25 each. Residents still have just over a week to have the blood tests done at the discounted cost at Wrangell Medical Center. Above: Rebecca Smith has her blood pressure taken by MiKayla Stokes of the Volunteer Fire Department while at the Health Fair Saturday morning....
Eight recall petition applications to remove all but one member of the Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) Board of Directors have been filed with the City and Borough of Wrangell. WMC Board members included in the petitions are WMC Board Chair Mark Robinson, Vice Chair Jim Nelson and Linda Bjorge, Sylvia Ettafaugh, Jake Harris, Lurine McGee, Dee Norman, and LeAnn Rinehart. The sole WMC Board member not included in the petitions is Dorothy Hunt-Sweat. Wrangell resident Gary Allen, Sr. is the main sponsor of the petitions, and Michael V. Ottesen,...
To the Editor; I believe that the self-professed CEO of WMC and his board get out of politics. They need to put their energy towards patient care and staff needs. Having a doctor on the Board would be a great idea, if you could find one to run. Who would be more qualified to judge a doctor’s actions and qualifications than another doctor? Apparently the board didn’t accept their recommendations of their Chief of Staff and keep a very qualified emergency care doctor on staff, Dr. Salard. While in the University of Washington Medical Center two...
At the Wrangell Medical Center Board meeting March 28, local physician Greg Salard told board members he has no intention of leaving town despite his hospital privileges being revoked. “I have full intentions of getting my credentials back one way or the other, and my wife and kids and I are not going anywhere,” he said. WMC board members, acting as a separate committee, voted in early March to deny Salard the right to continue to work at the city-owned hospital. Salard is a physician employed by Alaska Island Community Services, and was pre...