Mat-Su Regional Medical Center remains steadfast in service

I want to share an update with you on our community hospital. As we look back on the past year and a half, we have emerged from this dark COVID cloud that essentially changed life as we knew it. Today, I am filled with hope for the future and profound gratitude for the resilience of our employees and the medical providers at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center.

The pandemic has demonstrated how interconnected we all are, the impact each of us can have and the benefit of working together for a common cause. We care deeply about our community and are passionate about our commitment to deliver safe, quality healthcare services.

The arc of life is ever-present in a hospital; its frailty has been very clear this past year.

Tens of thousands of patients received the medical care they needed thanks to our physicians, nurses, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, lab and imaging techs, social workers, environmental services, maintenance, food services and admissions teams and multiple others who worked tirelessly to maintain a safe environment. Our team of caregivers put aside their personal fears and concerns and came to help every day, with bravery and courage.

With more than 135,000 patient encounters, we improved the quality of life for our neighbors in a multitude of ways, including less pain following joint replacement surgery, restored health after a cardiac catheterization procedure, or the smile of relief when a screening mammogram or colonoscopy result is clear. We also helped welcome into the world more than 650 babies, who took their first breaths in our Family Birthing Center, as we celebrated the joy of their arrival with their moms, dads and families.

We’ve had the privilege of caring for more than 300 COVID-19-positive patients. With pride and relief, we cheered for many patients who left for home after beating COVID-19 and other illnesses.

Each of these numbers represents someone’s life, in all its beauty and complexity; the hopes, the dreams, the disappointments, the victories. They also represent an extended network of other lives—loved ones, family members and friends. We are ever-mindful of the tremendous responsibility we are entrusted with when someone comes to us in need of help.

Our ambition is to help people get well and live healthier by providing safe, quality healthcare, building enduring relationships with our patients, and providing value for the communities we serve. It is rewarding work and we are grateful for the trust every patient and family places in us.

We feel the support of our community. It has been expressed through countless acts of grace – the prayers, the cards, the signs, the donations of supplies, the meals – all a profound source of encouragement for our staff.

Led by a team of administrators and two boards of community leaders and physicians, we are investing resources to expand medical services and integrate leading-edge technologies that will benefit our patients. This includes our new inpatient behavioral health wing, the growth of our Advanced Wound Care and Hyperbaric Therapy Center, and the further development of our cardiac catheterization lab and heart care program.

Access has also been expanded through the recruitment of 10 new physicians in 2020, including the disciplines of general surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry and interventional cardiology, making it easier for people to get specialty care locally.

We value our relationships with the communities we serve throughout the Mat-Su Borough. The more than $1.6 million in taxes we paid last year support critical infrastructure such as first responders, schools and roads.

Wages and benefits for our employees and providers generate buying power for local goods and services and help drive the economy.

We also deliver care for our most vulnerable residents, providing more than $20.7 million in charity and uncompensated care in 2020. A copy of Mat-Su Regional’s full Community Impact Report can be viewed at https://www.matsuregional.com/community-benefits.

Like our glorious Alaska summers, hope is burning bright at Mat-Su Regional. COVID-19 vaccinations are underway and infection rates have dramatically decreased. My heart is filled with gratitude and awe as I consider what we have accomplished together with our community this past year and I am excited as I look forward in anticipation to the extraordinary things we will accomplish in the days ahead.

Dave Wallace is CEO of Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. Mat-Su Regional is a 125-bed healthcare facility providing advanced surgical service, including robotic-assisted partial and total knee and total hip replacement, cardiac care, emergency services, diagnostic imaging, sleep studies, inpatient behavioral health, advanced wound care, three urgent care centers, the Family Birthing Center and is home to the 30-Minutes-or-Less ER Service Pledge.