There’s been high staff turnover at the Dahl Memorial Clinic in recent months. That trend continues as Johanna Huff steps down from her role as the clinic’s Medical Director, a position she’d held since 2019.
In her place, Marilyn Kahler was named interim Medical Director, Huff will stay on as a nurse practitioner at the clinic.
Skagway Borough Manager Brad Ryan said it didn’t make sense to have working providers tasked with administrative duties.
“We still have all our providers, but just, we have to take some of the burden off. And so now we have the providers focused on being providers. And we have a contract Medical Director who’s not a provider, but is helping provide guidance to the kind of higher-level administrative issues,” said Ryan.
In addition to the leadership change, Ryan invited the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, or SEARHC, to make a presentation to the residents of Skagway about how the tribal health organization runs its clinics around the region, including its clinic in Haines.
SEARHC’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Elliot Bruhl addressed the community during a Monday evening meeting in Skagway. He said that if SEARHC were to come to Skagway they would continue the clinic’s tradition of close personal patient/provider relationships.
“I would hope that we could support those clinicians in a way that allows them to thrive in their practice and continue to have patient-centered care,” said Bruhl.
During the presentation, SEARHC representatives discussed the nonprofit’s sliding scale fee structure, its ability to secure physician referrals inside its network, and its commitment to serve both Native and non-Native residents. They also discussed a dedicated staff of recruiters that helps fill vacant positions like the ones currently open at the Dahl Memorial Clinic.
If a partnership agreement is reached with the group, according to Ryan, that would not necessarily mean a physician would be based in Skagway. More likely there would be more SEARHC doctors rotating through town and assisting clinic staff.
“They are a physician-directed clinic, so providers here would be under the guidance and direction of physicians. So while we wouldn’t have doctors here permanently, they would be directed by doctors,” said Ryan.
He cautioned that this presentation was only an initial step toward bringing the health care company to Skagway. And that discussions about whether SEARHC would try to buy the clinic property or enter into a long-term lease agreement would be ongoing based on community response.
*This article was corrected to change the phrasing “removed from her role,” to “steps down from her role,” regarding the change of medical director at the Dahl Memorial Clinic.
