Mat-Su Regional gradually reopens, but hospitals statewide are hit hard financially

Mat-Su Regional Medical Center is gradually resuming its services. Non-emergency elective surgeries and outpatient procedures were made available May 4 in accordance with guidelines issued by the state.

The hospital had resumed diagnostic imaging, wound care, sleep studies and other outpatient services April 20.

“We’re beginning to reboot,” hospital spokesman Alan Craft said. “The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the economy, including the healthcare sector,” he said.

Like all hospitals in Alaska, Mat-Su Regional shut down non-emergency services.

The hospital is ramping up slowly to evaluate the processes in place and make any adjustments.

“We are working with physicians to reschedule their patients for medical and surgical procedures that were postponed at the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak,” he said.

“The precautions we instituted to minimize the risk of exposure to COVID-19 remain in place. We want to assure our community that we will continue to take every precaution to keep them safe,” Craft said.

“For us, the safety of our patients and staff is our top priority,” he said.

However, temporarily halting most elective procedures has taken a heavy financial toll on hospitals across the state. Figures for Mat-Su were not available but statewide, hospital operations are running 50 percent to 70 percent below normal.

This translates to a $70.7 million to $78.3 million monthly drop in revenue, for an estimate of $282.8 million revenue loss projected for March through June, according to the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association, or ASHNHA. The estimate may be low, ASHNHA said in an April 24 letter to Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

The letter was signed by 10 Alaska hospital CEOs including David Wallace at Mat-Su Regional.

The impacts iso so heavy that at some community critical care hospitals in smaller communities may be out of cash in June if things don’t change, the letter said. Critical care hospitals include those in coastal communities like Cordova, Seward and Kodiak, and the financial problems come just as the seasonal fishing industries gear up.

Nursing homes are also affected because they depend on hospitals to discharge many patients into long-term care, but those numbers are also down.

“Since revenues correlate to operations, the financial result to date has been catastrophic to hospitals and nursing homes,” said Jared Kosin, ASHNHA’s executive director.

Individual facility (hospital) revenue losses are estimated in the tens of millions of dollars. Small and mid-size hospitals are planning for losses between $2.3 million and $11.4 million from operational declines in April through June. Larger facilities are bracing for losses in the $40 million to $50 million range, according to the letter sent by the CEOs.

Alaska hospitals have received $44.7 million in emergency federal money since the COVID-19 crisis began in March, but that is just over half of one month’s revenue loss, Kosin said.

More help may be coming. The state has received $1.25 billion as Alaska’s share of the discretionary funding for states, of which $331.4 million is reserved for health care support. However, so far none of this money has been released to hospitals and nursing homes (the money would also go to tribal and other providers), Kosin said.

In the April 24 letter ASHNHA asked that $150 million of the $331.4 million be issued as grants for hospitals and nursing homes, including tribal facilities. This would leave money available for other health care providers, many also financially stressed.

Craft said, “One silver lining that has come in the wake of this turbulence is that Mat-Su Regional has launched virtual/telehealth visits for family medicine, women’s health and cardiology services, which enabled us to continue caring for our community while honoring social distancing and shelter-in-place directives.”

Overall, health care providers are navigating uncharted territory. “None of us has previously experienced an economic shutdown of this magnitude. We can’t predict how quickly services will recover, Craft said.

The Mat-Su community has been fortunate in that it has not experienced an extreme outbreak of the virus during its initial wave, he said. Still, people are apprehensive.

“We’re all making adjustments as we emerge from our COVID-19 cocoons. Throughout this pandemic, the Mat-Su community has been very supportive of the hospital,” Craft said.

“The donations of PPE and overall generosity of our community have been especially encouraging,” he said.