Don McConachie Sr. stands at the storage unit used for the community medical equipment loan closet. The volunteers need to find a new home for the hospital beds, walkers, crutches, wheelchairs and other equipment after the borough sells the former hospital property where the storage unit is located.
The community's medical equipment loan closet that has been in a number of locations over the years will likely have to look for a new home once more.
With the forthcoming sale of the former hospital next to Evergreen Elementary School later this month to Georgia-based real estate developer Wayne Johnson, the Wrangell Community Loan Closet will have to move its reserve of medical equipment to a new location.
Don McConachie Sr., who runs the service, talked on April 4 with borough manager Mason Villarma. "He wasn't aware that we were in here, but now that he is, he's doing what he can to find a new place for us," he said. "I'm guessing we have maybe two months."
In addition to seeking assistance for a new place from the borough, McConachie and longtime volunteer Alice Rooney are hoping for help in finding a new location from organizations like the Wrangell Cooperative Association and SEARHC. McConachie believes that Amber Al-Haddad, the borough's capital facilities director, could be another potential resource as she helped them find their current location.
The loan closet also serves other towns. On March 29, the volunteers collected some surplus medical equipment and sent it to Anchorage, where it will be disbursed to other communities up north. "We get a lot of extra equipment that in a smaller community you don't utilize," McConachie said.
Alaska Airlines donated its air freight services to fly the equipment to Anchorage.
In the past, the loan closet has also sent surplus to communities like Ketchikan and even overseas, Rooney said.
Backed by the Hospice of Wrangell, the loan closet offers medical equipment like wheelchairs, walkers, braces, hospital beds and more, all available free of charge for anyone who needs them on a short-term basis. McConachie estimates that they would need about 500 square feet to store what they currently have.
The closet is currently located in a storage unit on the grounds of the former hospital, but it has previously been at the airport, the site of what is now Bishop Rowe Apartments, as well as a garage of the Presbyterian Church. "It's been around for at least 50 years," Rooney said.
"It's a very convenient necessity," McConachie said. "We provide a pretty good service to this community."
Rooney said wheelchairs have also been popular for seniors who visit Wrangell during Fourth of July celebrations.
For more information or anyone needing to borrow equipment from the loan closet, call McConachie at 907-305-0063 or Kathy Watkins at 907-795-0969.
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