At its last meeting, the Skagway assembly unanimously approved the contract of a new Director for the Dahl Memorial Clinic. The vote ends a contentious chapter in the history of the clinic, and brings the hope of a fresh start.

 

 Beginning Dec. 1, Dahl Memorial Clinic will have its first permanent executive director in nearly three years. Albert Wall was approved by unanimous vote at the Nov. 16 assembly meeting. 

Wall’s contract expires November 2025. He will earn $160,000 per year plus municipal benefits. Temporary housing is provided for the first six months of his contract. 

Assemblymember Deb Potter expressed relief at the appointment. 

Potter: “Mr. Wall is incredibly qualified for this job. He’s excited to make Skagway his home and I’m excited for … I mean … he came with a letter of reference from not only Dr. Zinke but Senator Kiehl, so I feel pretty fortunate that he has fallen into our lap. And I think everybody is going to be very welcoming.”

Assemblymember Dan Henry, who has the most years of service at the table, commented on the tension surrounding clinic matters. 

Henry: “…I would say in my 34 years here, I’ve never seen the clinic itself, the relationship of the board and with the assembly, and just the interaction throughout the community — I’ve never seen it so bad. Absolute worst I’ve ever seen. So hopefully, with a new director and some fresh faces on the clinic board, everybody will understand that they need to put their energy into moving forward as a group that is dedicated to doing the best they can to offer the best services medically for this community…” 

Along with a new director, the assembly approved five clinic board members: Joel Jorgensen, Janilyn Heger, Kilipaki Harris, Brittney Thomas, and William Lockette. Former board president, jeremy simmons (who does not capitalize his name) was named to fill Allyson Nanini’s spot, with one year remaining. 

Lisa Mandeville, re-elected vice-president of the board at a Nov. 6 clinic meeting, was not re-appointed. 

Assemblymember Orion Hanson saw the return of simmons, who has 16 years of board experience, as a compromise. Earlier in the month, former mayor Andrew Cremata called for the dismissal of both Mandeville and simmons for failing to follow the hiring board’s recommendation to hire Wall. 

Hanson was also concerned. 

Hanson:  “…there were some serious missteps, missteps in following the process of how you hire an executive director, following our code. And I think that needs to be noted here.” 

Assembly members noted polarizing citizen correspondence, most of which was unpublished on the municipal website as the authors wished to remain anonymous.