KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Kayla Desroches/KMXT
The Kodiak Island Borough is on the cusp of approving a ten-year lease renewal on the Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center.
At its work session last night, assembly members spoke overwhelmingly in support of Providence’s continued use of the building on Rezanof Drive.
Assemblyman Dave Townsend credited the negotiation teams for their efforts.
“I just want to thank everyone who worked on this lease to actually come up with a lease that makes sense, that covers R and R for example, and [I] really appreciate that we’ve finally been able to able to come to an agreement on both sides of what looks good, what will work.”
Providence Health and Services Alaska first entered into the agreement with the borough in 1997, and Assemblyman Larry LeDoux emphasized that this latest version of the contract has been almost two years in the making.
“Well, I would like to join the universal chorus in thanking everybody for concluding something that’s very, very important to our community, and our quality of life is certainly improved by the hospital that we have.”
Contract changes include a shift from a one-year notice for ending the lease to a two-year notice. Borough Manager Michael Powers said staff also built upon the maintenance and repairs section.
“Our effort there was to make sure that, as the building owner, we were taking responsibility for maintaining the building. We don’t maintain the hospital’s equipment within the building. That’s on Providence to do. But regardless of who we lease the building to, we have a responsibility to make sure that that building is well-maintained, both currently and into the future.”
He said Providence had been doing some of the structure’s repair work, and so they included safeguards in this contract to make sure that the borough fulfills its obligations.
The lease approval will be on the agenda for next week’s regular assembly meeting. That’ll be Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the assembly chambers and airing live on KMXT.
