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Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter gave an update to the Borough Assembly during Monday's meeting on the current COVID-19 situation at the hospital. During the current outbreak beginning on September 20, the hospital had recorded 54 total positive cases with 35 cases considered active at the time of the meeting according to Hofstetter. As of Wednesday that number has dropped to 31 active cases. "Encouraging facilities to mask inside, distance, and vaccines, obviously are a way out of...
Infection Prevention and Quality Manager Liz Bacom gave a presentation during Thursday's Petersburg Medical Center Hospital Board meeting on the status of the COVID-19 outbreak in the community. At the time of the board meeting there were 19 cases of COVID-19. That number has climbed to 32 as of Wednesday. Bacom's report included details on how the virus has spread, age demographics of positive cases, testing information, and contact tracing. Of the then 19 cases, one was travel related and...
Heather Conn Age: 43 What experience do you have? When you look at board experience I have sat on three boards and one council. The experience I have had has been with the Petersburg Little League from 2002-2005, Early Childhood Education Board 2005 to 2009, The Viking Swim Club 2013-2016, and the Petersburg Indian Association Council 2017 to present. I have also been an involved community member with my presence during our local assembly and school board. Why do you seek public office? I...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board unanimously approved a motion Thursday to have PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter extend an invitation to Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium leadership to give a presentation at a future meeting. The aim of the motion was to hear what SEARHC’s vision for the future of health care in Petersburg is and their ideas regarding a new facility. “We need to get ahead of this and have that discussion with them, get that communication out there so that the public can hear some of that presentation and try to work thr...
Paul Anderson Name: Paul Anderson Age: 76 What experience do you have? Petersburg City Council: elected 1987 to 1990, appointed May 1991 to October 1991, elected 1991 to 2000, Mayor Pro Tempore December 1998 to 2004, elected 2004 to 2007 Wrangell-Petersburg Federal Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) - Federal Appointment, Co-Chair Appointment 2002-2010 Thomas Bay Power Authority: Commissioner January 1988-2002, President 2002-2008 Commander, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 10002 Why do you seek...
Medical professionals spoke at the Petersburg School Board meeting Tuesday night about the impact that COVID-19 is currently having on the state of Alaska. Dr. Jennifer Hyer with the Petersburg Medical Center provided a medical update to the board. She agreed with the board's number one stated goal of maintaining in person learning and said Petersburg is fortunate to have a low number of cases and proceeded to provide context for the rest of the state. "I wish I could deliver better news but...
Sebastian O'Kelly, the Borough Assembly's federal lobbyist with Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh gave an update during Tuesday's meeting. O'Kelly spoke on a number of topics pertinent to the borough that are being discussed in Washington D.C. during his report including new Coast Guard vessels, funding for a new hospital and the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan. According to O'Kelly, the Coast Guard has begun upgrading its vessel fleet and will be replacing the USCGC Anacapa which is base...
The Petersburg Medical Center board discussed their efforts to engage with the community regarding the construction of a new hospital during Thursday's meeting. The board's newly created Community Engagement Committee aims to improve communication of information about the new hospital to the public. PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter said that a common response to the hospital's recent community needs assessment was increased dialogue from PMC about the new facility and more opportunities for the...
Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter spoke to the PMC Board about staff turnover and vaccinations during Thursday's meeting. The healthcare industry has seen turnover across the country according to Hofstetter's report and PMC is seeing its own ups and downs with staffing. Hofstetter said some departments in the hospital have faced challenges whenever departures occur, but PMC has been fortunate in retaining staff compared to national data. According to Hofstetter, in the past seven...
Breakthrough COVID-19 cases found in Alaska April 30 Between Feb. 1 and March 31, Alaska Department of Health and Social Services identified 152 positive cases of COVID-19 among people in the state who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a report from DHSS. About 74 percent of the vaccine breakthrough cases, or 112 individuals, were among people who had received the Pfizer vaccine, according to the report. Thirty-eight percent of the breakthrough cases had received the Moderna... Full story
The Borough Assembly voted 4-3 to empower Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht to create a committee to serve as a COVID information response system during Monday's meeting. The discussion of the action item centered on the creation of the committee and the inclusion of a COVID dashboard on the borough's website. The item was requested by Assembly Member Jeff Meucci who said that the assembly needed to have more communication about COVID available to be prepared if the school system or the hospital...
Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter gave a report to the Borough Assembly during Monday's meeting. The discussion focused on PMC's communication with the community about releasing COVID information and the construction of a new hospital. Hofstetter said that the Emergency Operations Center is missed because there is no longer a structure in place for communication about COVID. He would also like to see information again be made available on the borough's website to help inform the...
Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter and Hospital Board Chair Jerod Cook met with SEARHC leadership to discuss the future of healthcare in Petersburg. With the rise of discussions within the community about the future of healthcare, these two organizations met to talk about collaborative opportunities. According to Hofstetter, the meeting covered a number of topics, but the focus was on community healthcare. "It's a starting point," Hofstetter said. "I think one of the things we'll...
SouthEast Alaska Regional Healthcare Consortium announced an agreement Friday to construct a new multimillion dollar medical center in Sitka. The Mt. Edgecumbe Expansion and Construction Project will replace the Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center on Japonski Island. The Indian Health Service and SEARHC signed a joint venture agreement on July 23 that will see SEARHC design the new facility and fund its construction and IHS provide long-term funding for operations and maintenance. "To continue to meet...
The Petersburg Medical Center has begun receiving feedback from the community through the Community Needs Assessment. Conducted every three years, the Community Needs Assessment is required for non-profit healthcare organizations and serves as a way for residents to comment on how their healthcare needs are being met. The survey features questions focused on a range of topics including services the hospital offers, demographic data, and the COVID-19 pandemic. "For me it's actually very good...
The annual Paddle Battle raised over $1,500 this year which will go towards helping Petersburg Medical Center employees continue their education. It was a cool 54 degrees on Saturday when the 21 paddlers braved the waters. The first group of participants started from Scow Bay at 8:30 a.m. and were later joined by a second group near South Harbor at 9:15 a.m. The paddlers traveled around Hungry Point and headed south along Frederick Sound to the finish at Sandy Beach Park. The participants who st...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly was advised Tuesday that site selection for a new hospital, according to CEO Phil Hofstetter, "is paramount." According to Hofstetter, an environmental assessment of each of the three proposed sites is necessary. The assessment can determine such things as availability of public utility services, economics, depth of muskeg, and other factors that can impact the cost of construction. In response to a question from assembly member Jeff Meucci, the assessment...
SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium spoke about the possibility of collaborating with the Petersburg Borough, taking over the Petersburg Medical Center and building a new hospital facility during a Borough Assembly meeting on Monday. SEARHC Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Elliot J. Bruhl gave the presentation at the request of Mayor Mark Jensen. He explained the details about a possible partnership with the borough and addressed concerns about SEARHC taking over a...
The Borough Assembly passed a resolution at their May 17 meeting that supports Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors and PMC staff as they take a phased approach to planning and building a new hospital facility. PMC CEO Phill Hofstetter said potential funders of the new facility would be more likely to award grants and other financial support to PMC if the borough backed the project. In addition to the Borough Assembly officially supporting PMC's first phase of building a new facility,...
Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter said at the COVID-19 community update on May 14 that kids as young as 12 years old had received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine at a small vaccination clinic that same day. An advisory committee within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted in favor of recommending the Pfizer vaccination to children as young as 12 years old just two days before. The vaccine had previously been available for children 16 years old and older....
The Borough Assembly and Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors held a work session on May 5 to discuss the next steps in the hospital's goal of building a new facility. Following the completion of a master plan document, PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter said the project would move forward in phases as the hospital works to secure funding in the form of grants. The immediate next steps include conducting a geotechnical study, selecting a location to build the hospital and creating a shovel-ready...
On Tuesday, the state reported 72.94 percent of Petersburg residents had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which was the second highest percentage in the state after Skagway Municipality. The Petersburg COVID-19 Dashboard reported 51 percent of Petersburg residents had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday. The Petersburg Borough's COVID-19 Dashboard and the state's COVID-19 Dashboard show two different numbers for the percentage of local residents who have received at...
Petersburg Medical Center has switched its billing operations over to Healthcare Research Group, Inc in an effort to improve its revenue cycle and elements of its billing services. PMC has been working with Healthcare Research Group, Inc. since March 23. The organization is based out of Washington, but is well-known in Alaska, said PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter. They specialize in the specific billing procedures required for critical access hospitals in Alaska. Previously TruBridge, which is based...
The Borough Assembly created a list of its top three capital project priorities for the 2022 fiscal year at their meeting on Monday that could potentially be funded by the federal government. In no particular order, the Borough Assembly chose a $16.2 million priority that would finalize the planning for a new Petersburg Medical Center facility, a project that would add ramps to South Boat Harbor totaling $1.7 million and the expansion and improvement of remote access facilities for a total of...
Petersburg's COVID-19 case count remained at 10 on Wednesday, as no new cases of the virus were reported and no infected residents were released from isolation, according to a joint press release for the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. Wednesday was the second day in a row that Petersburg had an active case count of 10. In the past week, Petersburg has reported five new cases of COVID-19, but 12 infected residents were released from isolation in that same timeframe. The drop...
