The Central Kenai Peninsula Hospital’s Service Area Board has been disbanded after the Borough Assembly determined it was no longer needed, and the board agreed. Now decisions for the hospital will be determined by its operating board and the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly.
Scott Walden is the board chair…
Walden: “There was a period of time when the Assembly needed this board to be their intermediary, to be their presence when the Assembly wasn’t able to be at all these functions that needed to happen at the hospital in the formative years of the hospital. Over time, the Assembly has become more and more involved in the functions at the hospital and the board has become more of a question group where we would have our meetings, we would talk with the incorporated groups to make sure their functions are following the plan of the hospital as had been agreed upon and the Assembly understood. We would report to the Assembly and then the Assembly would take the action to say yes or no.”
The board was created in 1998 to oversee the funds generated by the service area’s mill levy. In 2008 the Lease and Operating Agreement was changed to have the hospital become self-sustaining and decreased the mill rate to .01, which generates only about $56,000 annually that need to be overseen.
Nikiski Assemblyman Wayne Ogle voiced his concern that the elected body’s dismissal will take away a section of public input available to the community. He asked if there was a way to restructure the board’s duties to give them a more important purpose.
Borough Mayor Mike Navarre said it is impossible to restructure the service area board’s purpose with more authority because the Borough Assembly always has the final say on decisions regarding funding.
The board will have a final meeting on June 13. The service area has not been changed in any way.
