Clinic's health vital to users in upper Valley

Sunshine Community Health Center is a vital link in the chain that holds the upper Susitna Valley community together. It's too important to the community it serves to be damaged by secrecy and a circle-the-wagons management approach.

Despite its name, any concept of exposing the clinic's financial and management affairs to the light of day hasn't been part of the program lately for the nonprofit organization's board of directors.

Nuts and bolts clinic business is being done in closed-door sessions. No minutes are available. Meetings are held in a packed conference room with little space for spectators. Key employees are resigning. Staff morale is in the tank.

Last week the embattled executive director mailed in his resignation.

Perhaps worst of all, for years there have been no spectators. The public doesn't attend board meetings just to watch, according to the board's chairperson.

Well, the public sure showed up March 27. The board was confronted by 52 people with everything but torches and pitchforks. About 30 of them spoke, all but one urging the board to change course, open up and retain employees who feel alienated and abused.

The organization known in public health circles as &#8220the little clinic that could” didn't get to this sorry state solely through the actions of the executive board. A clinic that was built, and is cherished, by the public has to be watched very closely by the public and supported in every way.

Right now that way is the &#8220tough love” route, and Talkeetna-area residents seem to have the board's attention.

Some positive steps have been taken. The board last month had a facilitator interview employees after a satisfaction survey found dismal morale. After two-and-a-half hours of testimony, the board promised to do whatever it has to do to make things right.

But other problems must be addressed. Employees must have their say to the whole board, not just subcommittees. A moderated workshop or retreat is needed. Key staffers must be retained.

Requests for basic financial records have been denied this month. A reporter's request for a copy of a recent audit, which at a board meeting was described as favorable to the clinic, was sent to the clinic's attorney for review. A member of the public was sent to a pay-to-view Web site to find the clinic's nonprofit filing form.

All such documents should be posted online and be available to the clinic and the Talkeetna Library.

Most of all, those who care should attend every board meeting. Those who feel qualified should apply for vacancies on that board and help fix the problems at the most basic of levels through direct action. That's how the clinic was founded, and it's the only way to keep it open.