New hospital director taking reins

The new CEO of Wrangell Medical Center officially began work on Oct. 12. Robert Rang was selected by the hospital board from a field of nearly 40 candidates this summer.

Robert Rang was formerly the long-term care administrator for the Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center. Before that he was chief nurse executive for the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation in Bethel, and had served in the Army on active-duty and in the reserves for 28 years. Rang is a registered nurse and holds masters degrees in both health administration and nursing.

Outgoing CEO Marla Sanger has remained on board during the transition, and will finish at the month's end.

"That's been a great resource, having this overlap," Rang said. Over the past week and a half, Sanger has been able to acquaint her successor with the staff and facility, and help prepare him for the tasks ahead.

"My priority last week was just getting to know the staff," he said. "This week I'm going to start reaching out to members of the community and some of our stakeholders."

Rang said the board had been candid about WMC's financial and staffing difficulties during the interview process, and that there have been no unpleasant surprises for him since arriving. Rather, he said the transition of billing services to TruBridge that went live in August has started to bring in additional revenue.

Particulars on the budget will be made available at yesterday evening's meeting, but the hospital's budget situation continues to improve since last November. At that point, Sanger and interim financial officer Olinda White reported to the Borough Assembly, the hospital had less than a month's funds on hand needed to operate, and that auditors had reported losses of over $4 million during the previous fiscal year. As it is, Wrangell's hospital is now on track to have 100 days' reserve by the year's end.

"We're getting there," Rang said. "What I've really been impressed with is that even with all those challenges the staff is really resilient."

Though he said he was still collecting data at this point, one of the areas Rang would like to focus on is staff turnaround, in particular hiring more permanent nursing staff.

Sanger will rejoin her family in Washington after Oct. 30. She has been at the helm on an interim basis for most of the three years PeaceHealth has managed Wrangell's hospital. When in June she announced her intention to step down, the medical services company confirmed it would not continue its management contract with WMC.

Rather than go with another outside contract, the hospital board decided to hold a search of its own for a replacement. Rang had been among the final three candidates invited to meet the community and see the facility, and feedback indicated

people had liked his nursing background and Alaskan experience.