Juneau’s hospital hears from the community as budget crisis threatens service cuts

Aaron Surma, nan executive head of nan National Alliance connected Mental Illness Juneau, gives grounds astatine a Bartlett Regional Hospital gathering connected Tuesday, June 4, 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)

As nan committee for Juneau’s city-owned infirmary originates proceeding nationalist grounds connected services it might cut aliases reduce, residents opportunity location could beryllium damaging consequences for nan organization if they’re gone. 

At a nationalist gathering Tuesday night, Leslie Chandler Holzman said successful support of nan Home Health and Hospice services tally by Bartlett Regional Hospital. 

“I conscionable person to opportunity — do not springiness up connected this thing,” she said. “The reward to this organization is immeasurable.” 

That work and others — for illustration nan Rainforest Recovery Center and big and teen situation services — could beryllium discontinued arsenic nan infirmary tries to reside a awesome fund crisis. 

This year, nan infirmary is absorbing a $7.5 cardinal fund shortage by pulling from its savings. But infirmary leaders opportunity they can’t do that for overmuch longer. They opportunity that if they don’t find ways to importantly trim costs, nan infirmary will tally retired of money wrong nan adjacent 3 years. 

Hospital Board personnel Hal Geiger explained nan dilemma for illustration this.

“The decisions we person earlier us, they’re for illustration nan decisions we would person if we were gonna thrust connected a agelong car travel and we don’t person immoderate state successful nan car, and we don’t person immoderate money to bargain gas,” he said. 

The services that nan committee is discussing cutting aliases reducing are considered “non-core” services, and they’re costing much money than they’re making.

The location wellness programme gives intermittent in-home attraction for group recovering from an unwellness aliases surgery, and hospice is for patients who person a life expectancy of six months aliases less. Bartlett began offering nan services past summer, taking complete nan domiciled after Catholic Community Services stopped providing it successful 2022. 

Those services are expected to suffer a mixed $1.3 cardinal adjacent fiscal year.

The Rainforest Recovery Center is simply a constituent misuse curen halfway nan infirmary has operated since 2000. It’s expected to suffer adjacent to $800,000 adjacent year.

The committee says different options could beryllium connected nan table, for illustration subsidizing nan programs pinch metropolis dollars aliases handing them complete to different providers. But if that doesn’t hap — and soon — cutting nan services whitethorn beryllium nan only action left. 

At nan meeting, National Alliance connected Mental Illness Juneau Executive Director Aaron Surma said that request for big and teen situation services successful Juneau is high, and nan effects of cutting them would beryllium widespread. 

“You each inherited a financial business that nary individual personification present created, but I deliberation you besides inherited an responsibility to supply that service,” he said.

The situation halfway is expected to suffer $1.2 cardinal adjacent year. But nan infirmary only started offering nan services past December after nan building that houses it, nan Aurora Behavioral Health Center, was completed. 

The committee says that if nan work is trim aliases moved, they would repurpose nan caller building to location different programs.

But Surma said he wants nan committee to make judge nan work does stay disposable – whether that’s pinch Bartlett aliases pinch a different statement that takes it over. 

The gathering Tuesday nighttime was nan first of 2 in-person opportunities for nan nationalist to stock feedback connected what they’d for illustration to spot happen. The adjacent gathering is June 10 astatine nan hospital’s campus. Public comments tin besides be submitted electronically or via message until June 19. As of Tuesday, nan committee says they person already received 25 emails offering feedback. 

The committee is expected to springiness a last proposal connected June 25 connected really to move forward.