Ketchikan mayor urges PeaceHealth to design its ER expansion for summer crowds

Ketchikan Mayor Bob Sivertsen on Thursday urged PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center to design its renovated emergency department for the busy summer season, when cruise passengers and local patients compete for care.

Speaking at the Healthcare Advisory Committee's quarterly meeting, Sivertsen said there have been days when people waited in the hallway. He said the hospital and the city need to "take a real good close look and get this right the first time."

Sivertsen, who joined the committee in July to fill a vacant City Council seat, raised the same concern at the committee's July meeting. On Thursday the hospital answered his question about summer volumes at Priority Care: the clinic saw 1,372 patients from May through September. Of those, 939 came from Metlakatla, Craig, Ward Cove, Thorn Bay, Klawock and Ketchikan, and 433 came from outside addresses, which could be cruise ship passengers or seasonal workers.

Committee chair Scott Smith of PeaceHealth said the hospital's certificate-of-need application, a state review, should reach the state in about 30 to 45 days. In July, Smith told the committee the number of ER beds depends on that certificate. Drawings for the lab relocation that clears space for the ER expansion are bid-ready, Smith said.

The city's lease with PeaceHealth makes the hospital responsible for planning and building a renovated emergency department and gives the city final approval of the plans before construction. The lease, which took effect Oct. 1, 2021, set a goal, since missed, of starting construction within two years.

A 2021 repair plan attached to the lease estimated about $5.3 million for the expansion. City Manager Abner Hoage cautioned against treating that as a current price: "If it holds true to anything I've seen with our projects, you know, costs from 5 years ago have doubled or tripled, if not more."