Story last updated at 8/25/2010 - 12:21 pm
Flotsam and Jetsam is a weekly roundup of PSAs, news briefs, and odds and ends from across Southeast Alaska. E-mail news from your community to editor@capweek.com by 5 p.m. Thursday for publication the following Wednesday. We'd love to have every Southeast community represented, and will print as many announcements as space allows.
Juneau
AWARE's Advocacy Training begins September 9. Domestic Violence, sexual assault, child abuse and child neglect can be eradicated in our community. Call Swarupa at AWARE 586-6623 to register.
A road construction project on Salmon Creek Lane on Aug. 20-26 may delay some patients trying to get to the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) Ethel Lund Medical Center and other SEARHC facilities on our Juneau campus.
SECON, the project contractor, will be repaving Salmon Creek Lane starting on Friday, Aug. 20. The project is scheduled to be completed by Thursday, Aug. 26. Construction crews will be on site from 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, and from 8 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
According to a letter from R&M Engineering, Inc., the project includes removing the existing roadway pavement, reshaping the existing base and placing new asphalt pavement with a fog seal coat. The contractor will conduct its work operations to allow emergency vehicles unrestricted access to the medical clinics.
SEARHC has been told there may be short delays of 5-10 minutes for regular traffic trying to access our clinics in this area. The paving will be done lane by lane, so delays should be short unless the crew is right in front of an entrance to a parking lot. Please allow this extra time to get to your appointments.
The Juneau School District has appointed Gary Campbell as interim Assistant Principal at Dzantik'i Heeni Middle School for the 2010-11 school year. For the past six years, Campbell taught math and science at the school. He has over years of experience in education in Juneau and has worked extensively with high risk and special needs students.
Campbell's past work includes helping to establish Yaakoosge Daakahidi Alternative School, developing educational programming at Juneau Youth Services, and teaching adult education at Southeast Regional Resource Center.
"I am pleased that Gary has stepped up into the Dzantik'i Heeni Assistant Principal position for the coming year," says Superintendent Glenn Gelbrich. "Gary's instructional knowledge, his calm demeanor, his strong work ethic and his familiarity with DHMS all contribute to making him a great selection for this interim position."
Sealaska Corporation has officially taken ownership of a downtown lot known locally as "the pit," which is slated for construction of a Native archival and cultural center.
The official August 16 transfer was contingent upon the previous owner improving the site and fixing a failing sidewalk along the perimeter of the lot, which has stood vacant since a 2004 fire destroyed a structure known as the Skinner Building. After the debris from the fire was removed, the sidewalk over time began to slope toward the lot, prompting the city to file a lawsuit against the previous owner. It is understood that the suit will be dropped now that corrections have been made, said Sealaska Executive Vice President Rick Harris.
"Sealaska plans to landscape the lot, so it's attractive in the interim before ground is broken for the center," said Harris, adding that they hope to move a large maple next to Sealaska Plaza to the site and to acquire mature trees from other sources. A sign also will be installed specifying the site as the future home of the institute's cultural center.
SITKA
Earlier this summer, 96 percent of patients completing a special patient satisfaction survey gave a score of A or B when asked to rate the care they received at the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium's (SEARHC) S'áxt' Hít Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital in Sitka.
"The results showed an overwhelmingly high rate of satisfaction with the health care provided by our staff," said Roald Helgesen, SEARHC President/CEO. "While we always have opportunities to improve, it is clear our patients consider the care by our staff is a high-quality service. This special survey saw a significant improvement from our usual quarterly surveys, which have a third to a quarter of the respondents."
The survey, which was conducted during May and June, asked 200 patients to rate the care they received at Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital using grades of A, B, C, D or F. There were 149 A's and 44 B's, leaving only seven patients who responded with a lower score. In a question about staff courtesy, 94 percent said they were satisfied (155 A's, 32 B's). The hospital also received a score of 89 percent on information given to patients (127 A's, 51 B's) and 87 percent about how well patients were provided for their comfort (130 A's, 44 B's).
