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Clinic director asks Skagway assembly for $6.11 million as health‑care costs climb
Summary
Dell Memorial Clinic Director Al Wall presented a $6,112,126 operating ask and a $197,235 capital request, warned of a roughly 37% year‑over‑year increase driven by staffing, licensure and start‑up delays, and said the budget assumes roughly $1.3 million in new grants that are not guaranteed.
Al Wall, director of the Dell Memorial Clinic, told the Skagway Municipality assembly that the clinic is seeking $6,112,126 in operating funds and an additional $197,235 in capital spending for the next budget year. He said the overall request represents about a 37% increase from the prior year and reflected delays in fee changes and in getting the clinic pharmacy and other administrative systems fully operational.
"The cost of health care is going to go up by 30 to 50% every year regardless of what this assembly does," Wall said, arguing the clinic must shift toward an enterprise model that recovers more costs from insurance and grants rather than relying on municipal subsidies.
Why it matters: The assembly faces a budget cycle in which revenues are constrained and several departments asked for higher funding. Wall told members the clinic has three drivers of increased costs — a newly licensed pharmacy to stop…
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