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Petersburg Medical Center held a town hall meeting last Wednesday where Dan Jardine, of NAC Architecture, presented the findings of a master plan for a new hospital. "The purpose of a master plan is to determine how PMC can remain a viable partner and provide the best possible community healthcare well into the future," said Jardine. Three conceptual layouts were created using data put together as part of the masterplanning. Two of the layouts were placed on a lots on Haugen Dr. between S. 8th... Full story
January Following the shutdown of the U.S. government on Dec. 22, 2018, the U.S. Coast Guard stated it would continue offering essential services. The borough assembly approved $600,000 for a new baler. The USCG located debris from an overdue medivac aircraft that had three people onboard that was due to land in Kake several nights before. A decrease in air cargo coming into Petersburg affected the timely arrival of residents' packages after the retirement of Alaska Airlines' combi 737-400...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors continued their talk about the upcoming completion of phase one of the master plan to build a new hospital at their board meeting last Thursday, which began at a joint work session with borough assembly earlier this month. Several analyses have been conducted by NAC Architecture in order to prepare the master planning documents. Dan Jardine, project manager with NAC Architecture, said at the joint meeting that the master planning would be...
In a joint work session between the Petersburg Borough Assembly and Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors last week, Dan Jardine, project manager with NAC Architecture, updated both entities on the status of the master plan and revealed the preferred layout of a new hospital. In their efforts to design a new hospital, NAC Architecture has been conducting tests to determine possible sites for a new building and what a new facility would feature. In January, NAC Architecture plans to...
Petersburg Medical Center was approved for a $100,000 grant from the Rasmuson Foundation to help offset the costs of a new drug room, CEO Phil Hofstetter told board members at a meeting last week. PMC is remodeling the part of the hospital where the drugs for chemotherapy are prepared to become compliant with standards that regulate the handling of hazardous drugs. Currently, the drugs are prepared in a negative pressure hood. The new drug room will have a negative pressure hood, room and storag...
The Petersburg Medical Center held its fourth Community Cafe last week, which focused on healthcare for the aging population and the concept of "Aging in Place." Ken Helander, associate state director of advocacy with AARP, spoke on caregiving and other topics to consider to help aging citizens transition from an independent lifestyle to one that requires assistance. A combined total of 89 residents attended the afternoon and evening Community Cafes on Nov. 12. Hospital staff was also available...
At board meeting last month, Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter updated the board of directors on the master plan proposal for the possible renovation of the current hospital or building of a new facility. He also brought them up to date on the remodel of the part of the pharmacy where the drugs for chemotherapy are prepared. NAC Architecture was awarded the request for proposal by the PMC board of directors in May for the creation of a master plan proposal not to exceed $220,000. As...
Mayoral candidates Jeff Meucci General Information Age: 64 Experience: I served on the Petersburg Park & Recreation advisory board, the Petersburg City council and served two terms as the Petersburg mayor from 1995 thru 1999. I was appointed to my current Borough Assembly seat and was elected to my Assembly seat two years ago. During my time as the Petersburg Mayor I traveled extensively as the number one advocate for the City of Petersburg. Why do you seek public office? I am seeking public...
George S. Doyle General Information Age: 66 Experience: Three years Medical Center Board Member Why do you want to serve on the PMC Board of Directors? Supporting a fiscally and professionally strong Medical Center for our community. As a current board member, I've become more aware of how dedicated the staff of the Medical Center is in providing quality care and services. What are your ideas to make the hospital run more cost efficiently? On a day to day basis the Medical Center staff does an...
Phil Hofstetter has begun blogging and holding daily morning safety briefings to improve the communication of Petersburg Medical Center staff. The morning meetings allow department managers to discuss what has happened during the previous 24 hours. They also identify stress within the organization. According Hofstetter stress can lead to errors in care and safety issues for staff and patients. Stress can come from above average emergency room visits, or more inpatients. "If there's a larger than...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors approved the hospital's 2020 fiscal year capital budget for a total of $769,785 last week. The most expensive capital item in the budget is a $387,000 new drug room for the pharmacy, followed by $139,980 in upgrades in the information technology department. The rest of the departments have a combined total of $142,805 in capital items. When the budget was first presented to the board of directors in June, PMC Controller Rocio Tereja said the...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly will hold their second meeting of July this evening, July 18, at 6 P.M. and will discuss the vacant police sergeant and EMS coordinator positions, as well as two ordinances. The borough's 2020 fiscal year operating budget funds both the police sergeant and EMS coordinator position, but an amendment was made to the budget to not fill either of the positions until the borough was sure it had the funding. Police Chief Jim Kerr will request authorization to advertise...
Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter has been in town for just over a year, and said he has accomplished everything he had set out to achieve during his first year on the job. He came to PMC from the Norton Sound Health Corporation in Nome where he was vice president of hospital services for about six and half years, but he had been working in the Nome area for almost 20 years. Hofstetter was one of four finalists who applied for the position last year, but he was ultimately offered...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors passed the hospital's 2020 fiscal year budget at their board meeting last week. The balanced budget anticipates $16,695,000 in both total revenue and total expenses for the new fiscal year that began on July 1. A preliminary budget was approved by the board in March, and several changes have been made to the budget since then, according to PMC Controller Rocio Tejera. The amount of money budgeted for employee wages was increased since salaries...
Petersburg Medical Center's board of directors will be holding a special meeting this evening to approve or deny NAC Architecture's phase one master plan proposal for the construction of a new facility or remodel of the current building not to exceed $220,000. The PMC board discussed the awarding of the RFP to NAC Architecture on Thursday at their regular board meeting, but the proposal had only been received earlier that day. The board members said they wanted time to look over the proposal...
The Petersburg Medical Center held its third Community Cafe on Thursday in the assembly chambers to discuss changes in funding for healthcare at the state level. Each Community Cafe typically follows a theme, with the first Cafe revolving around trends affecting healthcare in rural Alaska and the second forum demonstrating PMC's telehealth capabilities. Jeanie Monk, with the Alaska State Hospital & Nursing Home Association, gave an overview of how Gov. Mike Dunleavy's proposed 2020 fiscal year b...
Four students in a nursing program through University of Alaska Anchorage graduated with an associate's degree in applied science in nursing and received their nursing pins in a pinning ceremony on Thursday at the Elk's Lodge. Valaree Nilsen, Audrey Morton, Adam Axmaker and Carolyn Kvernvik had completed most of the two year program at the Petersburg Medical Center. The four graduates are the first to go through the program in Petersburg. Nichole Mattingly and Rosa Niemi led the program as UAA...
At their monthly meeting on Thursday, the board of directors for the Petersburg Medical Center discussed the idea of holding their meetings in the borough assembly chambers to better receive the community. "It's more to do with community engagement," said PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter. "It just seems like a more centralized location." Hospital board meetings are currently held in the Dorothy Ingle Conference Room in PMC on the fourth Thursday of every month. If the monthly board meetings were to be...
Taking advantage of the sunshine Southeast Alaska has been experiencing this spring, Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter paddled 135 miles in his kayak to Ketchikan by himself as a way to test his endurance. His journey began Friday, March 29 at Banana Point and he arrived in Ketchikan the following Monday. He was greeted by staff at Peace Health Ketchikan Medical Center. Hofstetter said he had been planning to visit the facility and build a relationship with the staff, but flights...
Rocio Tejera-Elejabeitia will be taking over as financial controller at the Petersburg Medical Center following the exit of the chief financial officer Doran Hammett. After she was hired last month, Tejera-Elejabeitia has been working alongside Hammett and learning the day-to-day controller functions, such as month and quarterly closing. Hammett announced his departure in January after five years with PMC to be closer to his family in Oklahoma. Tejera-Elejabeitia has also been training with...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors approved a request for proposals to Jensen Yorba Lott, Inc. for the design and administrative oversight on the renovation of a portion of the hospital. To become compliant with standards that regulate the handling of hazardous drugs, PMC will be remodeling the part of the hospital where the drugs for chemotherapy are prepared. Currently, the drugs are prepared in a negative pressure hood. The completed project will have a negative pressure hood,...
The Petersburg Borough will send out a request for proposals for a new baler, after the assembly approved the decision on Monday. In January, the borough assembly passed Ordinance 2018-21, which allocates $600,000 towards the replacement of the borough’s baler. The request for proposals, or RFP, has a deadline of April 4, and gives a description of what is needed from the baler and the bidder. At Monday’s assembly meeting, assembly member Bob Lynn was concerned with how similar in scope the potential new baler, as laid out in the RFP, is to...
Phil Hofstetter, CEO of the Petersburg Medical Center, spoke about the future of the hospital as this year’s keynote speaker at the chamber of commerce banquet. Over the years, the hospital has been remodeled and received facelifts, and Hofstetter said the hospital is due for another update because of its aging infrastructure. Before arriving in Petersburg, Hofstetter was an administrator at the Norton Sound Health Corporation in Nome where he assisted with the process of bringing a new hospital building to the community. “This building, it...
Petersburg Medical Center held its second Community Cafe last week where CEO Phil Hofstetter gave a presentation on the hospital’s use of telehealth and its potential. Hofstetter was joined by Dr. John Kokesh, an ENT surgeon based in Anchorage, via video conference to share his experience with the innovative way of providing healthcare from a distance. At the beginning of his presentation, Hofstetter asked the audience three questions to keep in mind while he was speaking about telehealth: What kind of health care access do you want to see i...
The borough assembly voted in favor of instructing borough manager Steve Giesbrecht to send out a request for proposals, or RFP, for the cost of a consultant for Mountain View Manor assisted living to determine if the facility is running efficiently. The costs for Mountain View Manor are greater than the revenue it brings in despite being at 100 percent occupancy, according to Giesbrecht. The borough lost an estimated $240,117 in the 2018 fiscal year from the assisted living operation. “We’ve scratched and clawed to get to where we are, and...
