Progress 2021: Mat-Su Regional Medical Center responds to pandemic

The Mat-Su Regional Medical Center staff adjusted to providing health care during a global pandemic that reached the Mat-Su last spring with practical changes to healthcare delivery to minimize the risk of infection. There were no patients hospitalized in the Mat-Su with COVID-19 in a large portion of February and no more than 10 people have been hospitalized since December of 2020. Elective surgeries and many medical procedures were halted early on in the pandemic, resulting in what hospital employees described as a caution from people in need of medical care due to the pandemic.

“People are delaying care that they should not be delaying,” said MSRMC Director of Marketing and Public Relations Alan Craft last May “That’s our concern because they are not getting care in a timely fashion, simply because they are tentative.”

Hospitalizations remained low during the early part of the pandemic in 2020 with the first hospitalized patient in May. There were never more than 10 people hospitalized in the Mat-Su until the month of November when a spike in cases included an increase in hospitalizations. In March, MSRMC refurbished the ambulance bay to serve as an additional negative pressure room in the event that the hospital needed extra space to care for patients suffering from COVID-19. Mat-Su Borough Emergency Medical Services staff changed procedures for ambulance staff to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

“Taking all of those early steps have given us the gift of time that other states do not have,” said MSB EMS Director Tracey Loscar.

After the spike in cases in November, MSRMC had a high of 26 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in early December. Severity of cases decreased as vaccines arrived and began being administered on December 15.

“The hospital is a safe place to seek medical care. We have no evidence of any outbreak or people contracting covid from visiting the hospital so if you need medical care please know the hospital is a safe place,” said MSRMC COVID-19 taskforce Chair Dr. Tom Quimby.

Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink has led Alaska’s response in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 and into the distribution of over 100,000 vaccine doses while serving in the Emergency Department at MSRMC. In December, Zink was vaccinated at MSRMC by Dr. Michael Alter and also administered doses of the vaccine to her colleagues.

“We’re thankful that so many Alaskans are excited about the vaccine and engaged in the public process,” said Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink. “We wish we had enough vaccine for all who want it right now, but until we do, we’re balancing the science, logistics and ethics to get the supplies we do have out as quickly as possible.”