Kenai Peninsula Assembly approves ear, nose and throat clinic at Central Peninsula Hospital

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Oct. 6 authorized Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna to develop an ear, nose and throat (ENT) clinic. The measure passed 7-0 on the consent agenda, a list of items approved together in one vote, and the final minutes record no discussion.

Services are estimated to begin in 2027, Borough Attorney Sean Kelley wrote in a Sept. 24 memo to the Assembly. The hospital board's resolution says the hospital has signed a lease for clinic space but does not say where.

The hospital board approved the clinic Aug. 27, saying it is needed "to ensure continued access to ENT services" for service area residents. The hospital's 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment explains why. A physician wrote that the area's ENT doctor "is nearing retirement and when he stops the only resource will be Anchorage."

The assessment, dated November 2025, drew 798 survey responses from central peninsula residents. About half, 49.6%, said a household member left the area for health care in the past year, and 4.9% of those most recently left for ENT care. The top reason for leaving, cited by 52.2%, was that the service was not available locally. Another physician pointed to "Only one hearing testing location with long delays for appointments." Pediatric ENT appears among comments on services most needed locally.

The borough owns the hospital, and a nonprofit runs it. The nonprofit estimates the project at about $329,000, including a 15% contingency, paid from its operating account. It did not ask the borough for money. The hospital's operating agreement requires Assembly approval for new services with an expected capital cost over $250,000.

The board's resolution authorizes hospital management to complete the clinic's build-out, staffing and implementation. It also says Assembly approval "by ordinance" is required and makes the board's own approval contingent on that. The Assembly acted by resolution instead, and Kelley's memo says only that Assembly approval is required. The agreement's relevant section, as quoted in a July measure that approved a dermatology clinic at the hospital by resolution, names no required form.