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The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium has begun free asymptomatic testing of Petersburg residents and others throughout the region. Testing is offered from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M. every Saturday and Sunday at the SEARHC parking lot at 202 Gjoa St. Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter said at the COVID-19 community update on Oct. 9 that SEARHC is sending their test samples to Sitka and is seeing a four day or less turnaround time on results. Residents will receive their results via...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors agreed at their Aug. 27 board meeting to ask the Petersburg Borough to set aside $608,345.25 from its COVID-19 fund in the event the hospital can't secure additional funding. The money would go towards payroll, emergency personnel hire, a Cepheid testing machine, an elliptical machine and 10 COVID-19 in home mentoring units. PMC had previously requested $1,004,638.50 from the borough for COVID-19 related expenses, but the state ended up directly...
The test result for a non-resident traveler came back positive on Friday, Aug. 14, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The individual has been in isolation in town and close contacts have been informed. The Petersburg Emergency Operations Center believes the COVID-19 risk to the community is low due to the individual having limited contact with others in the community, according to the press release. As of Wednesday, Aug. 19, the number o...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors agreed to request $1,004,638.50 at a special board meeting on Friday from the Petersburg Borough's COVID-19 fund should grants from the state fall through. About $800,000 of the requested funds can be covered by grants the hospital has applied for from the state for COVID-19 relief, said PMC Controller Rocio Tejera. The hospital should be notified in the coming weeks on whether or not the state will release the grants. "This is in case we don't...
Petersburg Medical Center may receive a second cepheid testing unit that would increase the hospital's capacity to test for COVID-19 onsite from two tests per hour to six tests per hour, according to PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter at the PMC Board of Directors Meeting on Thursday, July 30. Because the rapid testing machine had yet to arrive at the hospital as of last week's board meeting, Hofstetter declined to go into detail about the machine or say definitively PMC would receive the machine. The...
A traveler coming into town through the James A. Johnson Airport has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a joint statement between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center released on Wednesday afternoon. The individual is a guest at Rocky Point Resort and has been at the lodge since his arrival from out of state earlier this week, according to the press release. The lodge guest did not have symptoms of COVID-19 upon arriving in Alaska. This new case of COVID-19 brings the...
Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter gave an executive report to the PMC Board of Directors at their meeting last Thursday, and noted that while most services offered by the hospital have decreased by 35 to 50 percent as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, home health has seen an increase in patients. In his report to the board, Hofstetter said that service volumes increased slightly in May, but have remained flat in June, but home health was able to increase its number of patients up...
On Tuesday, Petersburg Medical Center staff were ready to start collecting test samples from passengers flying into town as of the afternoon jet to be tested for COVID-19, said PMC Director of Patient Care Services Angela Menish. As passengers get off the plane and exit the tarmac, they are greeted by borough employees. If an individual is arriving from another part of Alaska, then they can enter the community. If the individual is arriving from outside of the state or country, then they are dir...
An updated version of Gov. Dunleavy's state health mandate #10 took effect early Saturday morning and set new guidelines for residents and visitors who are entering Alaska from the lower 48 or another country. According to the revised mandate, travelers into the state will have to meet one of four requirements upon arrival to avoid having to self quarantine for 14 days. They can be tested for COVID-19 before traveling, or they can be tested in Alaska when they arrive. If the individual has...
The borough assembly approved the Emergency Operations Center to answer a survey from the Alaska Municipal League regarding the presence of cruise ships in Alaska and also heard concerns over cruise ships arriving in port. The assembly had the option to hold a special meeting to provide input on the survey, but the assembly members felt comfortable with the EOC answering the questions. Borough Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said the communities at a recent AML meeting were cautious and showed...
With the upcoming expiration of the state's health mandate that requires anyone arriving in the state to quarantine for 14 days, Borough Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said at the COVID-19 community update Wednesday that the borough hasn't received much information from the state on what will happen next. Last Friday, Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced plans to change state health mandate #10 in a press conference. He mentioned that the Petersburg and Wrangell airports would be supported by state...
Petersburg Medical Center has begun operating under a red, yellow and green format that correlates to the risk of COVID-19 in the community and state which guides the hospital in its operations, according to PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter in his report to the PMC Board of Directors at their meeting last Thursday. "It does allow us to be more dynamic and flexible based on what we see in the community," said Jennifer Hyer, chief of staff at PMC. On Thursday, May 28, PMC was operating under a green state...
Petersburg Public Health Nurse Erin Michael warned the public that as people's lives change and adapt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they can begin to feel depressed and suicidal. At the COVID-19 community update on Wednesday, May 27, Micheal said the state reported an increase in emergency room visits related to suicide. She said it's not uncommon for people to feel anxious or depressed as they deal with the pandemic. Some specific causes of depression brought on by the pandemic can be a lack...
The borough assembly on Monday failed to make a motion to extend public health mandate #4, the local face covering mandate, past its May 5 expiration date. The face covering mandate first went into effect on April 21 and was set to last until May 5 at 11:59 P.M. The local face covering mandate requires all persons to wear some form of covering over their nose and mouth in certain social situations to help prevent the spread of droplets that could infect others with COVID-19. As of Monday, May...
Borough officials will be having a work session with state medical professionals next Wednesday to talk about the state's current and future approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. Borough Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said on Wednesday that the information gained from the work session can be used by community leaders to prevent a widespread COVID-19 outbreak as Petersburg begins to reopen parts of its economy. "I think it's very important to understand where the state is going with testing, and...
Another case of COVID-19 was reported in Petersburg on Monday, bringing the local number of COVID-19 cases to three, though two of the individuals have since recovered, according to a joint-statement made by the Petersburg Medical Center and the Petersburg Borough. PMC has sent out a total of 134 test samples to state and commercial laboratories to be tested for COVID-19, according to PMC Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Lauri Miller at Wednesday's community COVID-19 update. Of those samples,...
The borough assembly on Monday failed to make a motion to extend public health mandate #4, the local face covering mandate, past its May 5 expiration date. The face covering mandate first went into effect on April 21 and was set to last until May 5 at 11:59 P.M. The local face covering mandate requires all persons to wear some form of covering over their nose and mouth in certain social situations to help prevent the spread of droplets that could infect others with COVID-19. As of Monday, May... Full story
Petersburg Medical Center has received $5,769,680 in loans and grants to help cover financial expenses and losses being experienced by the facility due to the COVID-19 outbreak, according to PMC Controller Rocio Tejera at a PMC Board of Directors meeting last Thursday. "Flattening the curving that everybody is talking about has a high price tag and our financial situation has changed," said Tejera. A majority of the financial assistance has come from Medicare advances and the Payroll Protection...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly held a special meeting on Wednesday to discuss a list of questions from Gov. Mike Dunleavy on the state's decision to reopen the state and local economies; however, the assembly's discussion on those questions was scrapped, because the governor would only be taking feedback from smaller communities to be used when creating a plan to reopen the economy. During a teleconference between Dunleavy and other state officials with Alaska's municipal mayors and managers...
The Petersburg Borough confirmed the second positive result for COVID-19 in the community on Saturday in a joint statement with Petersburg Medical Center. While this is the second case to officially appear in the community, it is the only active case of COVID-19 present at this time. The first individual who tested positive for the virus has since recovered. Another local resident, Delbert (Pete) Erickson, passed away from the virus in Washington last month, but the Alaska Department of Health...
Petersburg Medical Center has sent out a total of 71 samples to be tested for COVID-19 at state and commercial laboratories as of April 15, said PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter at Wednesday's daily COVID-19 community update. Sixty-three tests have returned negative, seven are still pending and one test has returned positive, but the individual has since recovered. On Wednesday, the Alaska Department of Health and Human Services reported 293 cases of COVID-19 in the state. Of the positive cases, 106...
As of April 7, the Petersburg Medical Center has sent out 62 test samples to be tested for COVID-19 at state and commercial laboratories, according to PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter at Wednesday's daily COVID-19 update. Fifty-one tests have returned negative, ten are still pending and one test has returned positive. The borough was first made aware of the confirmed case of COVID-19 in the community on Sunday. The borough was notified by the hospital and immediately sent out a press release and a code...
For the month of February, Petersburg Medical Center saw its net operating revenue and total operating expenses come in over what was budgeted, according to PMC financial statements presented at the PMC Board of Directors meeting last Thursday. The net operating revenue was at $1,571,660 at the end of February, which was 12 percent above the budgeted $1,391,250 for the month. While the total operating expenses also came in over budget, February's revenue was able to offset the difference. PMC...
As of Wednesday afternoon, four of the 13 local test specimens that have been sent to state and commercial laboratories have returned negative for COVID-19, according to Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter. The results of the remaining nine tests are still undetermined. "You would know a lot sooner if there were any positives," said Hofstetter, at a daily COVID-19 community update on Wednesday. Statewide, 59 residents have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday evening, with 13...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved a declaration of disaster emergency at Monday's assembly meeting in response to the COVID-19 outbreak across the country and state. Additionally, the assembly approved an emergency ordinance that would allow the assembly to declare a quorum by calling into an assembly meeting instead of being present. By declaring a disaster emergency, the borough is putting itself in position to better receive state and federal emergency funding should the borough requir...
