Closing one chapter, opening another

Valley Hospital sets full transition to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center for Jan. 27

December 11, 2005

DAWN DE BUSK\Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - Valley Hospital employees have marked Jan. 27 on their calendars.

That's when the hospital's Palmer facility will close its doors and emergency room driveway entrances and the newly constructed Mat-Su Regional Medical Center near the Trunk Road-Parks Highway intersection goes fully on line, hospital spokeswoman Elizabeth Ripley said.

&#8220Hopefully, we've planned it well enough that no one will feel overwhelmed,” she said, adding that a smooth-move committee has been meeting every Friday, compiling employees' fears and concerns and posting answers on an intra-agency Web site.

The community will be invited to a Jan. 22 grand opening to preview the structure, prior to new patients arriving at the Mat-Su Medical Center and before hospital operations go into full swing, Ripley said.

The opening of the 74-bed facility should prove to be an agencywide effort, with Mat-Su Emergency Services redirecting 911 responses and the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities unveiling new hospital signs and covering signs pointing to the old hospital as staff completes the awaited transition, Ripley said. During the second week of January, employees will spend eight-hour days getting better acquainted with the new facility, she said.

Then, department by department, the hospital will be moved, with the help of Alliance Hospital Services Inc., a company that professionally assists hospitals in moving to new locations.

In addition, each unit of the hospital will practice drills to prepare for safely moving patients, Ripley said.

&#8220We're already bringing systems like the MRI on line. It takes a while to calibrate. It's not something you can do the last minute,” Ripley said.

On Jan. 27, contracted ambulances will bring patients to the new building, she said. &#8220The only thing we can't control is people who drive to the ER (at the old hospital),” she said.

For a while on Jan. 27, which falls on a Friday, both hospitals' ER units will be staffed, and then at one point, concrete blockades will stop vehicles trying to get to the old hospital in Palmer and signs will let people know the right place to go, she said.

Current patients who are still not prepared to go home before late January, and last-minute emergencies such as women going into labor, could throw a kink into well-laid plans.

&#8220We're going to hold off on elective surgery during the week of Jan. 22 through Jan. 27. That will reduce the number of patients. On the day of Jan. 27, we'll discourage outpatients. For example, if your physician recommended a mammogram, we wouldn't schedule a mammogram on that day. Our goal is to have a low census,” Ripley said.

Staff members may have had Christmastime vacations OK'd, but hardly anyone will be taking leaves in January, she said. &#8220For the managers, it's been hectic,” she said.

Ripley isn't worried about losing senior citizens who live and volunteer in Palmer and might be timid about driving the extra miles during the winter to get to the new hospital.

She said the volunteer staff is still going strong, and administration has prepared the paid staff members for the move.

&#8220We've been trying to cover the psychological component. Every time the payroll is issued, we update about the move. One payroll stuffer had a map of the lower level that people could put in their pockets or wallets. One payroll stuffer had a calendar of important dates,” she said.

A four-story medical building is being constructed at the new hospital site to accommodate physicians allowed to perform procedures at the hospital and whose practices were located near the old facility.

Although it won't be completed until April or June, the building is almost entirely leased, Ripley said.

&#8220Obviously, physicians with privileges enjoy having their offices located near the hospital so they can take office calls and make the rounds on patients in the hospital and be nearby in case of an emergency,” she said.

Contact Dawn De Busk at

352-2252 or dawn.debusk@

frontiersman.com.