Bartlett Regional Hospital has operated the high-intensity substance misuse treatment program at Rainforest Recovery Center for over two decades.
The 16-bed facility has allowed Juneau residents and others in Southeast Alaska to access treatment faster, without having to travel to places like Anchorage or Seattle.
But this spring, the hospital shared that the program, along with a handful of other services, was draining money and contributing to a financial crisis that could close the hospital. Rainforest was expected to lose close to $800,000 next year.
In June, the hospital’s board of directors agreed that if it can’t secure subsidy money or find a third party to take over the program by the end of October, then it would be eliminated. But, late last week the hospital shared with staff that the center would be closing much earlier — by next Tuesday.
Joe Wanner, the hospital’s chief financial officer and soon-to-be CEO, explained the decision to the Assembly at a meeting Monday night.
“Rainforest is open through the 23rd. We’re actively discharging patients due to staffing shortages in the program,” he said.
Some Assembly members, like Christine Woll, were taken aback by the news. Earlier this month, the Assembly discussed and indicated support to give the hospital $500,000 toward continuing the program through next June during a finance committee meeting.
“I hear the comments about not having enough staff in this current moment. If someone could walk me through how we got from not having enough staff in this current moment to closing the program permanently, that would be helpful,” she said Monday.
Wanner said that since June, nine staff members at Rainforest have resigned. Kim McDowell, Bartlett’s chief nursing officer and chief operating officer, said that’s in large part due to the uncertainty of the program’s lifespan.
“I think that when you have any period of uncertainty, especially for staff, they have to make what decisions is best for their families,” she said. “People decided that they needed to move on and look for different work.”
Without enough staff, McDowell said it puts patients at risk. The center currently has four patients, but they will be discharged before Tuesday. McDowell said one will finish their program before then, and the other three patients will seek treatment elsewhere.
Rainforest Recovery isn’t the only treatment facility in Juneau. Gastineau Human Services is a nonprofit that helps people affected by homelessness or addiction. Jonathan Swinton is the executive director of Gastineau Human Services. He told KTOO on Tuesday the facility plans to partner with the hospital to expand its 19-bed substance misuse treatment program in the coming months. That program opened last year and plans to have 27 beds by early next year.
“We’re in discussions right now with Bartlett to contract with them to provide an increased level of medical assistance to the residents in our treatment program, with the goal being that those in need in the community will still get the level of service that they have been through the Rainforest program,” he said.
Rainforest’s impending closure comes after the hospital closed its crisis care unit in July. It was a program designed to offer immediate care to adolescents in crisis. The hospital had only started offering the service last December. Hospital leaders said the closure was also due to a lack of funding and staff.
