Recent News

To most people it probably seems like an odd arrangement, but it’s fairly typical in the health care industry. Bartlett Regional Hospital is owned by the City and Borough of Juneau and governed by a board of directors appointed by the CBJ Assembly. The board hires a professional management company – Quorum Health Resources – to run the day-to-day operations of the hospital.

“The board I think can rely on us to make sure that those aspects of the operations are being addressed. Allowing them to focus on the strategic decisions of how do we better meet the needs of the local community,” says Bill Donatelli, Quorum’s Vice President of Western Operations.

As the nation’s largest hospital management company, Quorum works with about 150 facilities nationwide. Contracts vary, but usually a local board will hire a Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer who are also employed by Quorum. Donatelli says the legal term is “borrowed employee.”

“We assume some responsibility for their performance as our employee, so it gives the board added protection in terms of making sure the job gets done,” Donatelli says.

But in its next contract, the Bartlett board wants its CEO and CFO to be independent from the management company.

“We want ensure that Bartlett Hospital’s interests are the primary interests, and that there’s no confusion about whether the management company’s interests are in any way taking precedence,” says Board President Kristen Bomengen.

Bomengen says the desire to have more control shouldn’t be seen as a sign of dissatisfaction with Quorum, and it’s too soon to say if the board will seek to change Bartlett’s leadership team.

“We’re going to take up the contract negotiations first, and it will become more apparent to us just what direction to follow once we’ve completed that,” Bomengen says.

One of Quorum’s selling points in its pitch to the board was the stability of senior management during the 23 years the company has worked with Bartlett. CFO Garth Hamblin has worked at the hospital nearly 25 years; and while CEO Shawn Morrow just came to Juneau in 2007, he’s only the second CEO during Quorum’s tenure. For his part, Morrow says he’s not too worried about the board’s decision to exercise more control.

“You can’t be a successful CEO if you’re looking at the job through the eyes of self-preservation. It just doesn’t work,” Morrow says.

He says he intends to stay in Juneau as long as the board wants him here. Morrow admits to being impressed with the board’s process for soliciting management contract bids.

“What I’ve learned over the years is just let the process work. And if the process is a good one like ours was, whatever the conclusion, whatever the decision, you can live with it, because it’s been thought through from the standpoint of what is in the best interest of the hospital,” says Morrow.

If negotiations with Quorum aren’t successful the board has a second choice – PeaceHealth. But officials from that company explicitly said Bartlett would get a lower level of service if the board chose to hire its own executives. Quorum’s Donatelli says the company will try to work with the hospital regardless of the arrangement.

“I think the hospital has done a great job of serving the local community, I think we’ve done a great job supporting the local board in making those decisions that have allowed them to serve the local community and provide quality health care here,” Donatelli says. “And we’re proud of that and want to continue that relationship.”

Bomengen says the decision to stay with Quorum came down to other services offered by the company. The hospital’s management contract also covers purchasing supplies, which are discounted through Quorum’s hospital network. It also covers physician recruitment, and leadership training, strategic planning and consulting services for managers and board members.

“So there’s a range of management services that are particular to the health care industry that we are able to benefit from and that we would otherwise have to seek individual consultants for if we did not have a management services contract,” says Bomengen.

Quorum is currently paid between 350- and 400-thousand dollars a year depending on the Consumer Price Index. That’s separate from the CEO and CFO salaries. The company is seeking a similar amount in its new contract.

Bartlett Regional Hospital is a self-sustaining enterprise fund of the City and Borough of Juneau. It makes money by charging patient fees.

It’ll soon be easier to find where you’re going at Bartlett Regional Hospital.

This week, the board of directors for Juneau’s community-owned hospital approved funding for three new signs. Two will point visitors to the emergency room and the third will identify the main entrance.

During renovations over the past few years, the emergency room has sometimes been used as the main entrance, and BRH Community Relations Director Jim Strader says some patients and their families are understandably confused. Strader serves on an employee committee that’s been looking at signage for over a year and recommended the three new markers.

“Hospitals all over the country, they’re complex buildings,” says Strader. “It’s very difficult to navigate, even if you know your way around the building. And the fact that Bartlett, just like many other hospitals have undergone construction and changes in the layout and things like that, it’s something that hospitals are continuing to try to improve that process just to make it a little easier for people to find out where they’re going.”

Two of the new signs will be located on the side of the building as you drive up to Bartlett via Hospital Drive. The third will be on the Bartlett House building as you make the left turn to go to the emergency room.

The board approved about 19-thousand dollars for the project. It’s not known when the signs will be installed, but Strader hopes it’s before the end of the year.

The Bartlett Regional Hospital Board of Directors wants to stick with Quorum Health Resources as the management provider for Juneau’s city-owned hospital facility. But members have a backup plan if an agreement with the company can’t be reached.

The board voted unanimously last night (Tuesday) to enter into contract negotiations with Quorum, the hospital’s management services and supply purchasing provider for the past 23 years. If those negotiations break down, the board will turn to another management provider – PeaceHealth.

Quorum, PeaceHealth and Alliant Management Services were the three finalists that responded to a request for proposals issued by the board. It’s the first time in 14 years that the management contract has been put out to bid.

The decision to stay with Quorum came after two consecutive nights of meetings, including presentations on Monday by all three finalists, and more than five hours of talks in executive session.

Board member Robert Storer led a committee that put together the RFP and communicated with potential bidders. He thanked the board for its hard work, and the handful of hospital employees who attended both nights of deliberations.

“I hope the message that you all get out of this is that we took our responsibility very, very seriously. It’s very important, and hence the long discussions,” said Storer.

The next step will be negotiating the details of a new contract with Quorum. Under its current deal the company hires the Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officers for the hospital. During the presentations on Monday there was some talk of the board filling those positions.

Quorum is paid between 350- and 400-thousand dollars a year for management services. The actual amount is tied to the Consumer Price Index. The current contract expires at the end of the year.

Bartlett Regional Hospital is owned by the City and Borough of Juneau. The board is appointed by the CBJ Assembly, which will ultimately need to approve the contract.

Douglas Post Office customers are being asked what postal services they use at the island store and how often.

The U.S. Postal Service has sent out a survey to help gauge the importance of small post offices across the country.

While the Postal Service had targeted 36 in Alaska for closure, Alaska district officials announced on Monday that 25 remote stations will remain open. Eleven are still being reviewed, including Douglas.

Letters and surveys went out to Douglas customers on Monday. The letter says their input – from the survey and a public meeting — will be considered in the final decision. The survey deadline is September 11. The letter lists no date for the meeting.

The survey asks how often people buy stamps, mail letters or packages and use other postal services at the Douglas Third Street station, versus online or at other Juneau outlets. It also asks if the post office assists senior citizens or people with disabilities, if it’s a school bus stop, a public bulletin board, or a community gathering place.

While those types of activities separate many small rural from more urban post offices, workload is the key. The letter says mail volume and revenue at the Douglas station have steadily declined over recent years. If Douglas is closed, customers would use the Federal Station on Ninth Street in Juneau, 2 point 7 miles away; or the Mendenhall station, 11 miles away.

The Postal Service has recommended closing 3,700 post offices nationwide.

The AJ Mine Capital Project Fund now holds $250,000 for a water system study and other issues to be resolved before city officials decide if they’ll promote the city-owned gold mine. The Assembly Monday night appropriated the money from the sales tax budget reserve.

The ordinance says nothing about what the funds would be used for, and that caught the attention of most of the public who testified.

“I’m opposed to allocating any money for anything without first knowing what exactly the money would be used for and what results CBJ would expect to receive,” said Juneau resident Tina Brown.

City Engineering Director Rorie Watt told the Assembly several weeks ago that a fund would be needed to explore AJ issues, particularly Juneau’s water supply.

The city and borough owns two-thirds of the AJ property and Alaska Electric Light and Power owns the rest. Juneau’s main water source is Last Chance Basin, which sits atop, adjacent to and beneath the ore body.

Protecting Last Chance Basin was the AJ Mine Advisory Committee’s top priority. The Assembly formed the task force to determine circumstances under which the city might promote the AJ. The group worked for three months last spring, presenting its report in May.

Assembly member Ruth Danner tried to amend the ordinance to specifically state a water study would be done.

“I believe this ordinance should be redirected to say an ordinance appropriating to the (city) manager $250,000 for a safe drinking water supply study, and staff and legal time necessary to provide for research into the costs and benefits of reopening the AJ Mine,” she said.

Danner lost her argument as well as one to add intent language calling for a public vote on the AJ before the Assembly would solicit or select a junior mining company to advance the mine.

“When we have public testimony we hear from people on both extremes,” she said. “We don’t hear from people in the middle,” which she believes a survey would reach.

Assembly member Merrill Sanford said it’s too early to call for a public vote.

“There’s no reason to do this right now,” Sanford said. “We’re just trying to deal with whether or not it is feasible, whether or not it is safe for our water system, to even begin to look at the AJ Mine.”

Both of Danner’s amendments failed. Then seven of the nine-member Assembly voted to seed the AJ Mine Capital Project account with the $250,000 appropriation. David Stone and Malcolm Menzies recused themselves from the discussion and vote, due to a financial interest with A-E-L & P.

Engineering Director Watt will direct the studies. He said he plans a public process.

“Starting out with advising the public of a draft outline of what issues ought to be studied and look for comment and input on whether we’re missing topics,” Watt said.

He said the public also would be asked to comment on the final report.

The AJ study would include legal issues, Watt said. Juneau is one of the few municipalities in the country that regulates mining.

Watt said the study also would look for municipal land that could be used as a mine portal.

Recent heavy rains likely mean Juneau will have plenty of water to produce hydroelectric power this winter.

“Our fuel is rain and snow, so even though we all like sunshine and nice weather, we need the rain,” says Alaska Electric Light and Power generation engineer Scott Willis.

He watches water levels in the lakes that produce electricity for Snettisham, Lake Dorothy and Salmon Creek hydro projects. He says it’s been a dry two years.

“Prior to this weekend, our lakes were lower this year than last year at this time. And last year we didn’t fill any of our lakes,” Willis says. “But just this three-day storm put us ahead of last year.”

The Snettisham area got nine inches of rain between Friday and Monday. Crater and Long lakes provide the energy for the turbines. Crater Lake rose 21 feet and Long Lake rose 15 feet over the weekend. Prior to the rain storm, Long Lake had been rising only six to eight inches a day.

“Snettisham gets about three times more precipitation than we do in town. So if we get an inch and a half in town that’s four or five inches out at Snettisham,” Willis says.

Snettisham is the workhorse of A-E-L & P’s generation system, and provides most of Juneau’s electricity. The rest comes from Lake Dorothy and Salmon Creek hydro projects. Lake Dorothy grew seven feet, and Salmon Creek rose 10 feet over the weekend.

While none of the lakes have filled, Willis says he expects there’ll be plenty of water to run Juneau’s hydro this fall and winter, especially since September and October are usually wet months. When lake levels are low, the company has to supplement hydro with expensive diesel fuel.

A graph of lake levels is at www.aelp.com.