Petersburg Medical Center Newsletter |
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▲New University of Alaska Anchorage nursing program cohort with their PMC clinical instructors, from left to right: Jennifer Bryner, CNO, Nichole Mattingly RN, Kellii Wood, Jordan Stafford and Ruby McMahon (RN)
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▲ Lauren Thain and daughter Libby Thain after completing their six-mile Pedal/Paddle Battle ride
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▲ Kayakers completed the Pedal/Paddle Battle with a shortened route this year due to rough seas.
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NEWSLETTER BANNER PHOTO: PMC Foundation Board members Sarah Holmgrain and Sue Paulsen at the Pedal/Paddle Battle event with the prize giveaways.
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MESSAGE FROM THE CEO:
Summer Happenings and
Looking Forward to Fall
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COVID Outbreak in LTC
Two LTC residents who tested positive for COVID in July have since recovered. This was the first outbreak within PMC’s Long Term Care facility since the beginning of the pandemic and we are proud of PMC’s response measures to minimize the spread of COVID to other residents and staff.
Pedal/Paddle Battle
The Pedal/Paddle Battle was a resounding success! This was the highest turnout since the inaugural event eight years ago. The addition of the biking was a big part of that success. Roughly 70 participants helped raise over $15,000 to support continuing education for staff and graduating high school students. Thank you to the Community Wellness team for coordinating the event.
New Providers
Angela Menish has transitioned from a Registered Nurse to a full time Nurse Practitioner in the Joy Janssen Clinic. The clinic will also be welcoming back Dr. Alice Hulebak and her husband Eric Hulebak, Physician’s Assistant in September. PMC looks forward to increasing availability for medical visits to the community and continuing to develop clinic programs.
Specialty Clinic
PMC’s specialty clinics have moved to the Visiting Physicians office next to Public Health. Audiology, nutrition therapy, chiropractic and acupuncture appointments are all taking place in the newly renovated space. Visiting providers such as ENT and optometry are also utilizing the space on a regular basis.
CommonWell
PMC will be launching a program called CommonWell soon. This system will streamline the secure sharing of records between healthcare providers nationwide with a goal of improving care coordination and health outcomes. Stay tuned for more information soon.
— Phil Hofstetter, CEO,
Petersburg Medical Center
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▲ PMC Community Wellness staff and Kinder Skog staff taking ORCA POD group hiking and berry picking on Kupreanof
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▲ ORCA POD kids playing “Ulti-ball” – or ultimate frisbee with a ball instead of a frisbee
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▲ Camp Girls on the Run participants and coaches during Petersburg’s first ever GOTR summer camp in partnership with WAVE, Parks & Rec, and PMC Community Wellness Dept.
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HEALTH & WELLNESS
Summer Camps Focus on Happy Healthy Kids
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PMC’s Community Wellness team had a fun-filled summer co-hosting two camps for school-aged youth. The first camp, ORCA P.O.D.s (Play Outside Days), was a partnership between PMC and Kinder Skog Nature Program funded by the Petersburg Community Foundation. The free camp was offered Friday afternoons throughout the summer and featured a variety of activities such as bike riding, berry picking, back-yard games, Zumba with Kaili Watkins, capture the flag, hiking on Kupreanof, and ultimate frisbee. Two of the highlights were enjoying archery with volunteer leaders Dan McMahon and Tim Chittenten and Jamie Cabral’s introduction to Native Youth Olympics. Twenty-nine kids ages 8-12 years old participated throughout the summer. This adventure-filled camp made for great end-of-week fun throughout the summer.
The second camp was Camp Girls on the Run, a program of WAVE (Working Against Violence for Everyone), that was offered for the first time this summer. Historically, the after-school program Girls on the Run (GOTR) has been offered as one of WAVE’s violence prevention strategies with a focus on girls’ empowerment and social-emotional development. The five-day afternoon camp was open to girls entering 3rd-6th grades and involved fun games, physical activity, social-emotional learning and arts and crafts. Thirteen girls completed the camp August 15-19th. PMC’s Community Wellness team and Parks and Recreation staff both assisted in coaching the camp.
The partnerships with WAVE and Kinder Skog have been very valuable in offering the community more opportunities for youth to engage in healthy activities. PMC is grateful for the funding from the Petersburg Community Foundation and the partnerships with WAVE and Kinder Skog to make these programs possible. We hope to offer more camps and youth activities next summer.
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MEET THE STAFF
Becky Turland, A Small Town Gal with a Heart for Community
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Becky Turland grew up in a small town in Northern Michigan called East Jordan, a place best known for a company called East Jordan Iron Works which manufactures manhole covers, storm drains, and infrastructure access products used worldwide. It brings her a sense of comfort to see the East Jordan name on access covers in many places she’s been and even here in Petersburg, almost 3,000 miles away from her hometown.
As an only child, Becky was lucky enough to be able to travel a lot with her parents and grandparents, often on the back of a motorcycle. She loves to travel and looks forward to many more family vacations with her own kids.
Becky started working in the customer service industry as a teenager, holding down multiple jobs at a time in the summers, developing her strong work ethic that can be seen today. She attended Baker College of Muskegon (MI) where she graduated with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration, concentrated in Hospitality and Sales. During college, she was a resident assistant and worked for several restaurants to pay her way through school.
She arrived in Petersburg in June of 2003 to be near her parents. That July, Becky and her parents bought Northern Lights Restaurant and ran it for multiple years adding “Rooney” to the name. Needing insurance and a “long-term plan” Becky started working for the Borough at Parks and Recreation and Mountain View Assisted Living as the Food & Beverage Manager.
In 2014, Becky made the transition to Petersburg Mental Health Services and learned a great deal about behavioral health and fell in love with the prevention and non-profit world. In 2021, Becky joined the Petersburg Medical Center team as a Community Wellness Specialist. She has enjoyed her position immensely and has been honored to help build and grow the new department that does a lot of positive prevention and wellness work within our community.
Becky also spends a lot of time volunteering including the local Little League and Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department for over a decade, along with other clubs and boards. She has a son (Cayden, 10th grade), two daughters (Jozlyn, 6th & Etolyn, 5th grade) and two doodles who all enjoy the great outdoors that our community has to offer. Becky looks forward to continuing her prevention work and doing positive things for our community while instilling these values in her children as well.
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▲ Out on the boat with her two daughters, Etolyn & Jozlyn
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▲ Becky visiting her son Cayden in Juneau while she was on a short layover from a work trip and he was in port from commercial fishing
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▲ Becky's fur babies after muskeg jumping, headed out to swim & clean off
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DEPARTMENT SPOTLIGHT
Medical Assistants Help Clinic Run Smoothly
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Medical Assistants, or MAs, are an essential part of quality patient care and work alongside PMC’s provider team to perform both clinical and administrative duties. Clinical duties include taking medical histories, preparing patients
for examinations, and taking vital signs. Administrative tasks include transmitting prescription refill requests, updating patient medical records, and transmitting messages between patients and their providers. Some MAs have additional training that allow them to prepare and administer medications, give vaccinations, and perform minor procedures as directed by the provider.
Each MA is assigned to a provider team, allowing them to get to know the providers and their specific patients for the best continuity of care. PMC’s MA team includes Bobby Aikens, Isaias Arevalos, Pricila Chim, Jessica Franklin, Vikki Franklin, Desiree Gonzalez, Liz Thomas and Tony Vinson. Many of them have been at PMC for several years. Jessica Franklin says her favorite part of the job is that everyday is so different and she enjoys getting to interact with people every day in a variety of ways.
Becoming a medical assistant is a great way to get started in the medical field because PMC offers on the job training. PMC also offers career growth through a nationally recognized Certified Medical Assistant program. PMC is currently hiring for additional medical assistants to support our growing provider team.
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▲ The Joy Janssen Medical Assistant team (from right to left): Isaias Arevalos, Pricila Chim, Bobby Aikens, Vikki Franklin, and Jessica Franklin. Not pictured: Desiree Gonzalez, Liz Thomas, and Tony Vinson
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▲ Tony Vinson charting vaccines in his office
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CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
PMC Foundation's Paddle and Pedal Battle raises approximately $15,000
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Bikers and paddlers gathered at Scow Bay Saturday morning to participate in the annual Paddle and Pedal Battle fundraiser, which raised about $15,000 according to Community Wellness Coordinator Julie Walker.
The donations will go toward continuing education for Petersburg Medical Center staff and scholarships for Petersburg High School graduates.
"I think our goal this year was to revive the event and it really felt like we did that," Walker said.
About 70 participants made it out to the event with the majority participating in the Pedal Battle.
Because of the poor weather and sea conditions, some who planned on kayaking or paddle boarding chose to bike instead.
The Paddle Battle course was also shortened because of the weather to end at South Harbor, making it about three miles long rather than six miles out to Sandy Beach.
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▲ Pedalers hit the road at the start of the PMC Foundation's Pedal Battle Saturday morning. |
▲ Matt Pawuk incorporates pedaling and paddling during the Pedal Battle, intending to use the kayak paddle to keep steady on his unicycle for the long ride. |
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▲Myron Lyons and Linda Reller watching the deer feed at Outlook Park
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▲ Marie Moore and Gail Ribich spending time outside with Activities Aide Shirley Yip
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▲ Linda Reller and Andrew Simmons, PT, with the fish they drew together
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LONG TERM CARE UPDATE
Summer in LTC
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As summer is coming to a close, the residents are soaking up every moment of summer fun they can get. July’s outbreak brought Long Term Care into a “red” status, but our diligent staff was able to minimize spread and pull the facility back to a more relaxed status. Our residents have spent lots of time outside throughout the summer. Picnics, van rides, and walks around town have been a nice change of pace for the residents and been a great way to safely continue to bolster our presence within the community. Thanks to the help and flexibility of Petersburg Parks and Recreation, our residents have been able to enjoy picnics once again at Sandy Beach. For the Fourth of July our residents and staff lucked out with beautiful weather, and it was good to see families out and about for the event. During our van rides, residents have made it a game to count how many deer they see on each trip.
On the less-than-beautiful days, the residents have stayed occupied with lots of indoor fun. We have been able to resume our Friday Bingo games in a socially distanced style. We continue to hope that COVID will soon dissipate, and we can see our friends and volunteers back for group activities. Long Term Care residents have also been participating in a weekly Alaska themed read-aloud where we have read stories from across Alaska, including some local authors. Our activities staff continues to cook a special meal for our residents each week—keeping the facility full of aromas! Our residents also have enjoyed assisting with baking as they can.
As we get closer to the autumn season, our residents look forward to the seasonal festivities; however, we are soaking up every ounce of summer while we can!
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