Kodiak asks state for $10 million to replace hospital's half-century-old boilers

The Kodiak Island Borough is asking the state for $10 million to replace the aging boilers and sterilizers at Kodiak's hospital, warning that if any one piece fails, the hospital could have to suspend services.

The boilers are more than 50 years old, according to an April 2025 borough projects report. They burn oil to heat Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center, which the borough owns and Providence operates, and to make its hot water.

That hot water also feeds a steam generator, which makes the steam the hospital's sterilizers use to clean hospital equipment. Frequent breakdowns of the steam generator and sterilizers have at times limited when the operating room could be used, according to a 2026 borough record.

The request is on the state priority list the Borough Assembly adopted in January. No money has been secured.

The estimate has changed over time. A 2023 borough record put the project at $1 million. A 2024 record put it at $10 million.

It's one of several equipment problems at the hospital. In October, the Assembly approved $4.2 million in contracts to replace its failing chiller, which cools the building. In July, design of a new reverse osmosis water treatment and steam generator system was put on hold over concerns it might not work with the existing sterilizers.

The borough's list also seeks $1.2 million to design an expansion of the Kodiak Community Health Center, which is in the hospital building. The center has $8.3 million toward the $25.85 million project, but that money can't pay for design.

The borough's state and federal priority lists were on the agenda for an Assembly work session Thursday.