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The Emergency Operations Center will be scheduling a risk assessment meeting to discuss whether or not to increase the local risk level for COVID-19 from yellow to orange after seven cases of the virus were identified locally over the course of two days, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. Six individuals tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, five of whom were identified through PMC's symptomatic testing, and one case was identified...
Petersburg Medical Center will be having its next COVID-19 vaccination clinic on April 9 at the Parks and Recreation Center's community gym. PMC Director of Nursing Jennifer Bryner said at the COVID-19 community update on March 26 that April 9's clinic will likely be the last large vaccine clinic as more and more residents become fully vaccinated. On April 9, PMC staff will be administering second doses of the Moderna vaccine and some first doses of that vaccine. PMC will also have 150 doses of...
Petersburg Medical Center has spent $1,950,159 in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 through Feb. 28, 2021, according to documents presented to the PMC Board of Directors at their meeting on March 25. At the onset of the pandemic, PMC created a new department in the facility to track its spending and income related to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to PMC Controller Rocio Tejera. While the hospital has spent $1,950,159 on the pandemic, it has only been able to bring in...
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 Sitka Sound herring sac roe fishery opened for a 5th time at 10:45 a.m. Wednesday March 31. On Tuesday's herring survey, ADF&G vessels located numerous large schools of herring extending from Sandy Beach to Starrigavin Gay, from Lisianski Point to Dog Point in Hayward Strait and near Deep Inlet. A large biomass of herring was observed from Crescent Harbor to Thimbleberry Bay. Harvest from the fishery conducted on March 29 totaled approximately 1,500-tons of herring and the cumulative...
A case of COVID-19 was identified through testing at the James A. Johnson Airport on April 1, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and the Petersburg Medical Center. The incoming traveler is the eighth person to test positive for COVID-19 in the last seven days. According to the borough's COVID-19 Dashboard, Petersburg was reporting eight active cases of the virus as of Friday morning. The local positivity rate for COVID-19 is 3.5 percent. "That is higher than it... Full story
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 Mental Health Services will be shifting its services and staff over to Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium beginning April 1. The decision to transfer services to SEARHC is a result of a series of funding cuts, according to Susan Ohmer, executive director and founder of PMHS, in a letter to the public. Although SEARHC will be taking over PMHS' services, SEARHC will maintain the same office and has offered PMHS providers the opportunity to keep working for the organization. "I...
The Petersburg Chamber of Commerce has announced that it will be hosting the Little Norway Festival this year, but it will be taking precautions to prevent the possible spread of COVID-19. Chamber administrator Mindy Lopez said the Little Norway Festival Committee has been planning for the festival since January but has only recently made the commitment to hold Mayfest this year. The Little Norway Festival will be held from May 13 through May 16 and is going to look a bit different from past...
The Borough Assembly set April 28 as a potential date to hold a work session with the Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors to discuss a new hospital facility at their Monday night meeting. The Borough Assembly was unanimously in its support of the meeting between the two entities, which is supposed to happen at least once a year. Assembly Member Bob Lynn, who is the assembly's liaison to the hospital board, said the work session would allow the assembly to ask questions about the new fac...
The Petersburg Emergency Operations Center reassessed the local COVID-19 risk level on Monday and lowered the community from a moderate risk to a low risk level. The decision comes as Petersburg recovers from a local outbreak. Petersburg was at a red risk level or COVID-19 transmission for 22 days. The community was at an orange risk level for just one week before the EOC lowered it down to yellow. As of Wednesday, Petersburg has gone over seven days without a new case of COVID-19 being reported...
The Borough Assembly approved the purchase of a $54,952.47 mobile vehicle lift for the Motor Pool Department at their meeting on Monday. The four-column, mobile vehicle lift system will be purchased with funds from the Public Works Department, Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department and Petersburg Municipal Power & Light motor pool balances, according to Public Work Director Chris Cotta. In the 2021 fiscal year budget, the borough had allocated $54,000 for a vehicle lift. Cotta said the additional...
Petersburg Medical Center will be holding a combination of small and large COVID-19 vaccination clinics in April as the community reaches a full vaccinated population of 33.9 percent, or 1,085 people, according to the borough's COVID-19 Dashboard. PMC Director of Nursing Jennifer Bryner said at the COVID-19 community update on March 19 that the hospital will be holding a smaller COVID-19 vaccine clinic at PMC for residents receiving their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine in early April. On Apri...
Six cases of COVID-19 were reported in Petersburg on Monday, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. Five of the cases were identified through PMC's symptomatic testing, and one case was identified through the asymptomatic testing at the Petersburg James A. Johnson Airport. Public Health investigation will determine if any of these cases are connected to the previous Petersburg outbreak. All positive cases have been directed to isolate by... Full story
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is predicting an increase to the total statewide salmon harvest this year thanks to a pink salmon run expected to bring in 63.5 million fish over last year's harvest. According to an ADF&G report, the total commercial salmon harvest in Alaska is projected to be 190.1 million fish. In 2020, 118.3 million fish were harvested statewide. The report states the increase to the state harvest is due to a larger pink salmon harvest compared to last year. ADF&G is pr...
About a week before Christmas, Joseph Tagaban, 13, started experiencing a toothache in the lower left side of this jaw. His parents, Ed and Je Tagaban, made an appointment with a local dentist after the pain continued, but a lump underneath his tooth soon began growing. Ed said he thought the dentist was just going to drain the lump and treat Joseph's toothache, but instead, the Tagaban family ended up traveling to Juneau to see an oral surgeon. The surgeon performed an operation on Joseph and...
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...
State health officials held a town hall meeting via Zoom on Wednesday to give an overview of the recent COVID-19 outbreak in Petersburg and answer any questions. Since Feb. 18, Petersburg has reported new cases of COVID-19 nearly every single day, while maintaining an active case count. Since the outbreak peaked at 68 cases on March 3, Petersburg has seen a steady decrease in cases. As of Tuesday, Petersburg has recorded 94 cases of the virus since Feb. 18. State health officials were able to...
The Petersburg Police Department is warning the public to be on their guard as scammers look to swindle residents into sending them money. "Historically this time of year there is an increase in email and telephone scammers trying to convince the recipient to send them money, transfer funds by wire or bank to bank, or even gift cards in lieu of funds," said PPD Captain Randall Holmgrain in an email to the Pilot. "The scammers are equal opportunity but will specifically target the elderly or...
The overall 2020 salmon harvest in Southeast Alaska was down by about 56 percent compared to 2019, as all five commercially harvested salmon species runs came in below recent and long term averages. About 14.6 million salmon were harvested in Southeast Alaska last year, which was down from the 33.5 million salmon harvested in 2019, according to a season report by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Statewide, salmon harvests were down by 14.4 million from the preseason forecast, with 118.3...
Approximately 250 residents were vaccinated at Petersburg Medical Center's COVID-19 vaccination clinic on Friday, which was the hospital's second vaccination clinic this month, according to PMC Phil Hofstetter at the COVID-19 community update on Friday. A combination of first doses and second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, as well as the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, were administered. Theresa Ruzek, a public health nurse manager with the state of Alaska, said the state and...
Six people addressed the Borough Assembly at a work session on March 10 to express their support and opposition to legislation that would transfer 23,040 acres of federal land within the Petersburg Borough to an Urban Corporation. The intention of the work session was to give the public an opportunity to share their opinions with the Borough Assembly on the Unrecognized Southeast Alaska Native Communities Recognition and Compensation Act before the bill is reintroduced to the 117th United...
About 400 residents received their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at Petersburg Medical Center's vaccine clinic on March 5, and 1,000 residents are expected to be fully vaccinated in the next two weeks, according to PMC CEO Phil Hofsetter at Monday's Borough Assembly Meeting. PMC will be hosting another COVID-19 vaccine clinic on Friday, March 12 at the Parks and Recreation community gym. The clinic will focus on administering the first dose of the vaccine, but some second doses will also...
About 200 patients at Petersburg Medical Center may have had their medical records viewed inappropriately in a data breach, said PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter in a prepared statement on KFSK on March 4. PMC first became aware of the data breach when an employee told the hospital's compliance officer that another employee may be committing curiosity lookups. PMC employees are only allowed to look up a patient's medical record when their job requires them to do so, said Hofstetter. The hospital...
Sixteen infected residents were released from isolation on Wednesday, while just one new active case has been added to Petersburg's active COVID-19 case count, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. Additionally, Petersburg is only reporting 16 active cases of COVID-19 as of 4 P.M. on Wednesday. The current case count is the lowest the town has seen since Feb. 21 when Petersburg was reporting 13 cases. The Petersburg Operations Center has...
