Mat-Su Health Foundation lends eight iPads to Mat-Su Regional to help patients stay in touch with their families

WASILLA— The Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) recently acquired eight iPads to lend to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center to help patients affected by COVID-19 stay in touch with their families.

“It’s just another way, right? We’re trying to make sure folks can stay connected,” Mat-Su Health Foundation CEO Elizabeth Ripley said.

Ripley said the MSHF meets weekly with hospital staff to keep a pulse on their current needs. She said that about a quarter of the hospital’s patients have been diagnosed with COVID-19. The long quarantine periods with no physical contact or visitors allowed can really dampen a patient’s spirits, so providing additional options for communication can go a long way.

Ripley praised Mat-Su Regional’s staff for its countless efforts on the frontlines of the pandemic. She said they’re even taking overflow patients from Anchorage.

“They’re doing just a phenomenal job handling the virus, and also ensuring the safety and quality of other services that people need,” Ripley said. “It’s always interesting to see who rises up in a crisis. Thankfully, lots of times people do… From what I understand, hospitals are coordinating very well to make sure we can take care of folks.”

According to Ripley, MSHF has endeavoured to support the community since the outbreak, offering community grants, connecting people to vital resources, and building on programs like Connect Mat-Su to keep up with the ever changing environment affected by COVID-19.

Connect Mat-Su is a referral network that connects Valley residents to a wide range of local health social services resources across the community. Ripley said that Connect Mat-Su was designed to serve as a community center and “case management light.”

“That site gives residents the largest known database of support services available in Mat-Su,” Ripley said. “I think that’s something to highlight because COVID has exacerbated the need across our borough, whether its food security, or access to healthcare, or substance use challenges. We’ll continue to build out that service.”

Ripley noted that Connect Mat-Su’s website is useful for more than just people looking to solve a problem, She said it’s also useful for local individuals and families looking for clubs, after school youth programs and other community resources to enrich their lives.

“The resources are there but not everybody knows about them,” Ripley said.

Ripley said they reallocated their resources earlier this year to adapt their efforts to specifically respond to the virus on the local level. She said that MSHF has awarded about 1.4 million in Coronavirus Prevention and Response, or CPR grants across the community to address COVID-19 related matters including housing, behavioral health, early childhood support, and food security.

She said they’ve helped local agencies develop telehealth services and worked with groups like United Way of Mat-Su to address basic needs like hunger and internet access for local students.

MSHF is working with the Alaska Mental Health Trust to establish a crisis response unit for mental health and substance abuse emergencies, according to Ripley. She said they’re developing the program over the next two years.

When completed, the response team will feature 23 hour and short term stabilization units, and a call center to ensure faster and more specialized care to patients in crisis that will help alleviate cases from usual emergency response crews like local law enforcement officers.

“It’s a new way of responding that’s more cost effective,” Ripley said.

According to Ripley, the foundation is still in “hunker down mode,” limiting exposure while actively working to keep things going. She said they donate masks to local groups, governments and nonprofit organizations that are in need. She encouraged everyone to do their part by wearing masks, keeping their distance, staying up with sanitization, and mitigating exposure risks.

“Mask up, back up and wash up,” Ripley said with a laugh. “That’s really our No. 1 focus.”

Connect Mat-Su is available weekdays from 8 a.m.to 5 p.m. For more information, call 907-373-2628 or visit healthymatsu.org.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com