WRANGELL — In a press release last Friday, Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium announced it will officially move forward with formalizing an affiliation with the City and Borough of Wrangell regarding the future of its municipal hospital.

The decision follows one reached unanimously by the Wrangell Assembly on June 12, and sets into motion a transfer of operations of Wrangell Medical Center to SEARHC. Initially, the regional provider will acquire the local hospital and assume its operational, financial and legal responsibilities.

Meanwhile, SEARHC will fund construction of a new...