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YKHC Seeking Local And Native Workers For Hospital Expansion Project

Dean Swope
/
KYUK

The contractor overseeing the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation’s $300 million hospital expansion is now accepting applications for local workers. Construction won’t begin for six months, but the native-owned contractor ASKW-Davis wants to get as many native and regional hires lined up as possible.

“We’re not just this general contractor that’s coming in to just be a presence in Bethel and in the community, we want to be a part of the community. And the best way to do that is to hire within the community and region," said James Murrell, ASKW-Davis Project Manager.

The project will bring about 150 jobs to the area over its five-year timeline. Dan Winkelman, YKHC President and CEO, wants those hires to be 100 percent local and native, but says that's not likely to happen. There aren't that many journeymen and project managers in the area with experience constructing multi-million dollar hospitals.

“Knowing all that, we know that we’re not going to hit that number," Winkelman said, "but that’s the right answer. So it’s my job as Chief Executive Officer of the company to make sure we have processes in place that we are hiring as many local Alaska Natives as possible from our region. I assure you that I will do that, and be meeting every Monday at 11:00 like we’ve been doing for the last couple years and getting those numbers when that hiring starts taking place.”

Every Monday, Winkelman meets with the contractors to review the project. The main man he’s meeting with is Project Manager Kent Crandall, who’s looking for workers beginning next summer.

“All kinds of trades," Crandall said, "electricians, plumbers, carpenters, finishers, workers.”

People who want these jobs, but don’t have the skills, can gain them through training programs and apprenticeships managed by Yuut Elitnaurviat, Bethel’s workforce development center. Winkelman says the project’s timeline is so long that someone could possibly start as an apprentice and become a journeyman just working on this project. For example, becoming a journeyman electrician requires 8,000 documented work hours under the supervision of a journeyman, usually completed over four years.

“And after that they would be able to go to any job in the state and have a fantastic wage, and if they wanted to join a union, they’d have those benefits as well,” Winkelman said.

Prospective employees will have to undergo drug testing before hire. Marijuana use, though legal in Alaska, would bar a worker from employment.

To apply, visit www.askwdavis.com.

Anna Rose MacArthur served as KYUK's News Director from 2015-2022.
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