More than 20 Sitkans testified in a community listening session hosted by SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) and the Sitka Community Health Council on Monday. The event, which lasted just under two-and-a-half hours, is required by charter and represents the community’s annual opportunity to speak directly with hospital leadership.
Several people spoke about challenges in communication, citing problems with phone systems and lack of transparency from leadership. Dr. Marilyn Coruzzi, a retired Sitka physician, said the problem wasn’t with the level of care patients receive.
“The employees that I see when I go to my appointments are excellent at SEARHC,” she said. “They’re professional, they’re pleasant, they’re kind. I think the main issue is the upper echelons, who we hardly ever get to reach or talk to. This meeting I’ve been waiting for all year. So, kind of, don’t tell me you have this avenue and that avenue — it’s not that easy.”
Coruzzi and several other speakers echoed concerns raised at last year’s listening session about SEARHC’s 2023 closure of a Medicare-certified home health program. Council member Martin Benning, senior vice president of clinical and hospital operations research, said that allocating resources to that program just didn’t make sense for the organization.
“The amount of resources and structure that have to be involved to run a certified Medicare Home Health Department appropriately is a lot, and it serves a very niche group of people,” Benning said.
Stephanie Weddel is the Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 4 president.
“I’m flabbergasted,” she said. “To say that our elders, that our parents, our grandparents, are just a niche? You’re talking about this like they all consumed dollars, is what you’ve been saying today, and they don’t deserve to die with dignity because it’s too expensive to run that program.”
SEARHC Chief Medical Officer Cate Buley, who started in the role last May, said she was grateful for the feedback from Sitkans.
“We will continue to work on the comments and the feedback,” she said. “We want the feedback. We’re not always going to get it right, but we’re going to continue to improve.”
The council also shared updates on the construction of Sitka’s new 250-million dollar hospital that’s set to open in 2026, expanded access to specialty care through partnerships with Swedish Health Services in Seattle, and a new online patient health portal.
