Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) has completed its acquisition of Alaska Island Community Services (AICS), with the transition formally taking effect on April 1.
Started in 1975, SEARHC is a non-profit tribal health
consortium representing 18 Native communities in the region. Among its other programs, it operates Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital and the Ethel Lund Medical Center in Juneau. One of the largest private employers in the region before the merger, the deal with AICS extends its reach to 24 communities.
Established in Wrangell in 1989, AICS has provided a variety of clinical and mental health services. In the intervening years it had expanded its service range to include Petersburg, Gustavus, Point Baker, Port Protection, Coffman Cove, Whale Pass, Naukati, Edna Bay, and most recently the Front Street Community Health Center in Juneau.
Under the agreement, SEARHC assumes operational and management support roles while AICS, retaining its name, will continue to operate out of its existing facilities and locations. The former AICS governing board has been reformed into an advisory council,
which will provide input to an eight-member accreditation governing body made up of SEARHC corporate board members. The new council
was arranged to include members of the former AICS board, and representatives from SEARHC, Wrangell Medical Center and the Borough Assembly.
Meeting with the Assembly in January, SEARHC senior vice president Dan Neumeister explained the newfound relationship would see a net increase in AICS’ operating margin of about $2,000,000 annually. This would be due both to organizational efficiencies and the status of SEARHC as a tribal entity, allowing it greater reimbursement rates in both Medicare and Medicaid. Because of its size, the consortium would also be better able to negotiate with Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield, the sole participating insurer in Alaska’s health insurance marketplace.
In that and subsequent meetings, SEARHC has also made a commitment to the Assembly that it continues serving all patients, assumes the local property tax obligation of the AICS clinic site, and establishes a foundation to help support community-designated health priorities using a percentage of surplus funds.
The arrangements made between AICS and Wrangell Medical Center for staff and services will also continue. This includes physician and provider coverage for WMC as well as part-time pharmacy coverage, behavioral health consultation, biomedical services and information technology support. In turn, SEARHC would still be provided with radiology, laboratory and rehabilitation services as well as the handling of biological waste services for the AICS clinic.
“It’s gratifying to know the depth and breadth of services provided to the patients and residents of Wrangell and surrounding communities will be enhanced through this merger,” SEARHC President and CEO Charles Clement said in a release Monday.
With these assurances, the Borough Assembly last month approved transfer of the statutory warranty deed from AICS to SEARHC for its Wood Street clinic property.
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