Ketchikan resident urges hospital committee to back a PeaceHealth-paid patient ombudsperson

A Ketchikan resident asked the city's Healthcare Advisory Committee on Thursday to back a hospital ombudsperson, paid for by PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center, to field patient safety concerns and make sure they get follow-up. A second resident tied accountability for the city-owned hospital partly to voter participation.

The committee oversees the lease under which PeaceHealth runs the hospital. Its duties include forwarding complaints to PeaceHealth for confirmation that they have been addressed, according to the committee's duties document. The committee charter does not show it has authority to create an ombudsperson position or fund one.

The first resident said patients and caregivers have described misdiagnosis, mistreatment and missed lifesaving medications, some resulting in death. At a Community Health Board town hall the night before, the resident said, PeaceHealth's outline of new quality and safety efforts came with too much defensiveness. The resident asked how the committee would get explanations that patients could not.

Weaver, the second resident, said accountability also rests with citizens. "We had about a 17 to 23% voter turnout last election for city council," Weaver said, adding that Ketchikan "will get the healthcare that it's voted for, or in our case, not voted for."

Weaver also said $44 million had been transferred up from PeaceHealth and that the hospital carries $40 million in shared services on roughly $100 million to $110 million in revenue, with negative total margins. He urged a structured financial review of the lease. PeaceHealth's fiscal 2026 report card showed $112.6 million in operating revenue and a $3.9 million operating gain. The committee put off accepting the report until January so corrections could be made.

Two emergency physicians with Apollo MD, the group that staffs the emergency room, praised hospital staff. No committee member or PeaceHealth representative responded to the ombudsperson proposal at the meeting.

A Ketchikan City Council member submitted an agenda item in May to look into contracting a health care ombudsman for the city and PeaceHealth patients.

City Manager Abner Hoage, a city member of the committee, said the city will scope its Gateway Review of the lease next month and hold it in late January or early February 2027. The lease requires the review every five years to examine whether it is delivering its intended benefits.