The City and Borough Assembly confirmed its selection of an interim borough manager to serve after Jeff Jabusch retires from the position March 31.
He announced his plans to retire last September, putting an end to four decades of service to the city. In his stead, economic director Carol Rushmore has been named to serve as interim manager. As part of the arrangement, the Assembly agreed she will be paid an extra stipend for the months of March, April, and however long it might take for the transition to resolve itself. Funds would be paid from the vacant position's salary.
Beginning in October, one round of searching already passed by without naming a successor to the appointed post. A pool of 25 candidates yielded four main candidates, three of whom dropped out before the in-person interview set for February 14.
“We lost two prime candidates because we took too long,” noted Assembly member Mark Mitchell. In the time between the announcement, the close date, initial phone and Skype interviews and the final session, applicants found new employment.
“I think that was one problem this last time. The process was too slow,” agreed Mayor David Jack.
Clerk Kim Lane explained she had already begun getting in responses to the rerun job offer, and was making candidates aware that the process would be timely. “They know it's going to be a quicker turnaround.”
A close date of March 15 has already been given for the position, and a special meeting for the Assembly to interview candidates telephonically scheduled for the 20th. Assemblyman David Powell wanted any in-person interviews to happen at most the week after conducting them remotely via telephone or Skype.
Assembly member Stephen Prysunka added his opinion that it would be good for the process to be more hospitable to visiting candidates. No public meet-and-greet or community events had been arranged for the previous round of candidates, which he felt seemed unwelcoming.
Fellow members were of a similar mind, and after discussing it thought a public reception would do well after the interviews in executive session were over. Previously, they had opted to only have a closed-door interview with the final round of candidates, citing privacy considerations.
Also on its plate, the Assembly reviewed a cost analysis of Wrangell Medical Center's continued contract with TruBridge, an Alabama-based service which has handled its billing since July 2015. The arrangement was made for two years, during which time the company would earn 2.2 percent of every dollar it collected on behalf of the hospital.
Citing various benefits, including a substantial reduction in WMC's accounts receivable and aged accounts (a comprehensive review of the analysis was published in last week's Sentinel), the hospital reported it would cost two and a half times as much in the first year to train local staff to cover similar duties than it would to renew the TruBridge contract. Subsequent years could vary, with an 11-percent savings for in-house staffing measured against the loss of access to the company's expertise.
After reviewing the submitted assessment, Assembly members shared some anecdotal gripes and praise alike about the new service, but Patty Gilbert pointed out financially the arrangement “pencils out.”
“This is what I was looking for,” commented Prysunka. He thought the report addressed his questions about the contract, and was pleased with the hospital board's effort.
“I'm really pleased to hear what you're saying,” commented WMC Board member Barb Conine, participating over the phone. She attested to the company's efficiencies when responding to coding errors, and following up claims through secondary or tertiary providers and beyond before timing out.
The Assembly then heard from Southeast Alaska Rural Health Consortium senior vice-president Dan Neumeister and Alaska Island Community Services director Mark Walker regarding the former provider's planned absorption of the latter.
The merger was initially set for the beginning of February, but was delayed due to accounting considerations. AICS staff have still gotten a planned three-percent pay raise, and the arrangement is expected to formalize toward the end of this month.
The two clinical executives had come to follow up on discussions they had with the Assembly in January about transferring the statutory warranty deed for the AICS clinic property over to SEARHC. Questions were raised about the future of the clinic under new ownership, its continued cooperative relationship with WMC, and the transfer's effect on healthcare and the local economy.
Neumeister pointed out a renewed draft cooperation agreement between SEARHC, the city and its hospital to continue collaboration. On a question of whether the clinic would continue to pay property taxes, as SEARHC is a tribal entity, he said: “We're putting that in writing very specifically.”
On questions as to whether the Wood Street clinic property could or should return to the city as part of the deed's reversionary clause, or whether additional conditions be added to it before transfer, Walker made clear his opinion he had lived up to its end of the agreement.
“I believe AICS met that condition by building that clinic,” he said.
On the other hand, the clinic had been constructed there in 2010 with the expectation of WMC building a new hospital on the neighboring parcel. That effort has subsequently gone unfulfilled. Since the clinic's construction, Walker pointed out there were significant costs to developing the land and – left on its own, without an accompanying hospital facility to partner with – the undesirability of the Wood Street location. Paving to the location was only completed last year, and Walker said there has been “a significant ongoing cost” in terms of lost productivity and revenue from the clinic's commitment to WMC from afar.
“We didn't want to move there if we were going to be alone,” he said.
However, he also renewed AICS' pledge to continue cooperating with Wrangell Medical Center after the merger. The arrangement will also have the benefit of enhanced reimbursement from the federal government – a point not to be lost as Alaska deals with its ongoing budget deficit. Walker reminded the Assembly that rolled back funding sources can be expected at the state level, but that additional revenues at the federal level should help keep revenues on track.
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