SEARHC CEO Charles Clement. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)

SEARHC CEO Charles Clement. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)

The Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium has no active plans to merge with Sitka Community Hospital, but SEARHC CEO Charles Clement believes the two organizations should discuss a shared vision.

Clement spoke to the Sitka Chamber of Commerce this week (Wed 5-11-16).

Downloadable audio.

This was a different Charles Clement than the one who spoke to the Sitka Chamber of Commerce in 2014.

“I was here a couple of years ago talking about the financial status — the operational status — of the consortium, and there was a lot of uncertainty. There continues to be a lot of uncertainty. But we’ve managed over the last three years to take a lot of the variables out of the equation, and the status of the consortium is strong.”

Those variables included some staff cuts and reorganization, but Clement says SEARHC is now in the black, with around $115-million in annual revenues, several months of reserves in the bank, and almost 1,000 employees — nearly 500 of whom work in Sitka.

Two years ago, both SEARHC and Sitka Community Hospital were struggling. Now both have stabilized. The question in the air — Clement referred to it as “the monkey on the table in this room” — does a merger make sense?

The respective leadership of SEARHC and Sitka came together recently to talk about precisely this.

“A couple of months ago we met with the Assembly and shared with them that we thought there was a real conversation to be had here, within the community of Sitka, a community of 9,000 people: Running two hospitals with virtually identical service lines — whether it’s lab, imaging, primary care. Trying to facilitate a conversation to say, does this make sense?”

Whether it makes sense or not, no one’s yet taken the temperature of the community on a merger. City administrator Mark Gorman, who served years as vice-president of SEARHC Community Services, alluded to old antagonism toward SEARHC in the community, by saying “the history was very deep.”

Clement responded that “anxiety and fear are the bedrock of this conversation.” But he also offered to reframe the argument, and suggested that Sitka should look at health care with a clean slate.

“If we all worked together to the best of our ability, taking the resources that we have on the table, would we organize the health care delivery system in Sitka the way that it’s organized now?”

Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp No. 4 president Paulette Moreno thought it was important to include questions of racial equity in any discussion of a possible merger. She wanted to know if SEARHC if would maintain a Native hiring preference, and what were the barriers to a merger?

On Native hiring preference, Clement said it was legal and would be continued. On a merger, however, Clement wanted to make sure that no one left the room thinking it was anything close to a done deal.

“I would say that it’s irresponsible on my part to jump to the conclusion that there needs to be some sort of merger. I think really where we’re at is a place of trying to have a conversation to see if there can be a shared vision.”

Clement added that he thought the community would be well-served by having that conversation, but he personally would not drive the agenda.