KETCHIKAN (KDN) — Ketchikan Public Health added seven new COVID-19 cases and one virus-related death of a Ketchikan resident to the online data dashboard on Tuesday.
Ketchikan is a step closer to renewing its agreement with the nonprofit that runs the community’s hospital. The City Council says the terms of the new lease give the city more oversight and ensure needed investments and upgrades will be completed by the city and PeaceHealth, which has run the hospital for decades.
The new 20- to 40-year lease outlines millions in repairs and upgrades and seeks to cut down on large unforeseen medical bills. It also requires the hospital to provide regular updates to the city and take feedback from the council and community.
Council Member Dave Kiffer says the new lease is a big upgrade over the prior deal between PeaceHealth and the city, which was signed in 1981 and later extended. PeaceHealth and its predecessor, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, has run the city’s Tongass Avenue hospital since it first opened in the 1960s.
Proposed Ketchikan hospital lease addresses upgrades, city oversight, surprise bills
Posted by Eric Stone | Jul 14, 2021
PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center. (Eric Stone/KRBD)
A new lease with the nonprofit that operates Ketchikan’s city-owned hospital will get its first public hearing Thursday evening. The first vote on the 20-plus-year agreement between the city and Vancouver, Washington-based PeaceHealth follows more than a year of formal negotiations.
The new lease lays out a variety of repairs, upgrades and expansions for the hospital over the next decade. PeaceHealth would be required to begin a $5.3 million remodel and expansion of its emergency room. The city would upgrade a culvert at a cost of $1.2 million.
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Ketchikan gears up for a traditional Fourth of July with class reunions, fireworks and its famous parade
Posted by Eric Stone | Jul 2, 2021
Sharli Arntzen, right, and Ellen Thomas decorate a float on Thursday for this year’s Fourth of July parade. (Eric Stone/KRBD)
Ketchikan is gearing up for its annual Fourth of July celebration. With a parade, fireworks, and booths at the mall, it’s looking like a return to normal in the First City after organizers canceled the traditional festivities during the pandemic.
Alaska has a special relationship with the Fourth of July, says Ketchikan-based historian Dave Kiffer.