SEARHC's expanded long-term care unit to accept residents early next year

The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium’s expansion of its long-term care unit at the Wrangell Medical Center remains on target for construction completion at the end of 2022.

In June, SEARHC broke ground on an 1,800-square-foot addition to increase the unit’s capacity by four beds.

According to Lyndsey Schaefer, director of marketing and communications at SEARHC, the additional beds will be available for use in early 2023.

Spots in the 14-bed long-term care unit are “hard to come by,” said Schaefer. Once construction ends and the new beds are made available, they will be filled using an “ongoing waitlist,” she wrote in an email to the Sentinel.

The long-term care unit provides residential services for aging or chronically ill patients who require meals and 24-hour medical care. Wrangell has the second-oldest population in the state. According to 2021 census data, 25.1% of residents are over 65. As the population continues to age, pressure on the long-term care unit is unlikely to abate.

SEARHC has not disclosed the construction cost of the expansion.