PUBLISHER’S NOTEBOOK: A certificate of significant need

On June 27, Mat-Su Regional Hospital CEO Dave Wallace submitted a certificate of need to the State of Alaska to add 36 inpatient behavioral health beds for adult substance and mental health services in the Mat-Su Borough. If awarded, groundbreaking for the new wing would commence shortly thereafter. There is a concern however because another certificate of need was submitted by Alaska Regional Hospital. The concern is that the state will see this as a competing need. With the growing population in the Mat-Su and population holding steady in Anchorage — both are needed.

Opioid Crisis

Much has been written and publicized about the opioid crisis in the Mat-Su. Currently there are only two specialty rooms at Mat-Su Regional to handle behavioral health and drug abuse patients. Clearly this is not enough. In 2016 there were 234 times that the two beds failed to handle the need. Beds in the ER have to be used for behavioral needs. These beds are not equipped to handle those going through a mental crisis. There is a trickle-down effect that we simply can’t afford. We’re not sending these patients to Anchorage and Anchorage Regional’s need should not be lumped into Mat-Su Regional’s need. We have to have the services here in the Valley.

The not so obvious need

The drug epidemic — or better stated “crisis” — is an obvious target for the need of these behavioral beds, but there is another, seemingly quieter, need. Depression is a disease that has no target demographic, no tangible outward symptoms that outside of the person’s trusted circle would be able to identify. Often these people walk around in their own mental hell. The younger, more immature version of me thought of suicide as a cowardly way out of life’s struggles. I viewed these people who attempted or completed the act of suicide as weak and selfish. That was until it personally affected me and changed my whole perspective.

Keith’s Story

Keith Fraser was the youngest of five children born to Ralph and Merna Fraser. I became close to the Frasers when I moved to Delta, Colorado, prior to my sophomore year in high school. I was a classmate, and she is still a dear friend of mine, of Keith’s older sister Renee. I looked up to his brother Dennis. His brother Kirk, I count as one of my closest friends. He was a groomsman in my wedding. Keith was a few years younger than us, a seemingly happy boy who loved his brothers and sister. The family is tight-knit. Ralph and his brothers were loggers by trade and their families spent the summers of our youth on the mesas surrounding Delta working the family business.

We did the typical small town activities as young men. Crafted from the sheer boredom of rural life. We cruised Main Street and found an out-of-the-way place for bonfires and parties. We went hunting and fishing and were active in our local school. Little Keith was often in tow with us. But as Keith grew into adulthood his mind began to turn on him. Though he was well liked by his peers and older friends, loved by his family and close friends, he couldn’t escape the feeling that he didn’t belong in this world. As we grew into our adult lives I would hear of stories of erratic behavior but brushed it off as maybe he had a night of too much drinking or something similar. In the 90s and early 2000s I managed a hardware store in the neighboring town of Montrose where Keith had taken up residence. Keith would often come in the store to shop and if it was close to closing time we would have a beer in the backroom and catch up. He seemed to me like the same old Keith. I had no idea the internal battle he was fighting.

I was clueless

On a chilly November morning in 2005, I received a shocking call from a friend informing me that Keith had committed suicide. His parents were the ones who found him. I can’t imagine how horrific that must have been. Then I just couldn’t fathom why he would do it. Again, he was loved and respected by so many. He left behind a daughter he adored. At his service, the large church in which it was held was standing room-only as people came from all over the region to pay their final respects.

Haunted by the question, why?

After a little time had passed I stopped by Ralph and Merna’s home to check on them. Merna greeted me as she had done so many times when I was a kid with open arms and a welcoming hug. We sat at her kitchen table and talked for a little over an hour. I told her I was struggling with the ‘why?’ She said she couldn’t explain it and recalled that Keith would get into a hopeless state of mind. They went to the local outpatient facility for help and they typically would adjust his medication and he would be OK for a while, then slip back into his depression. There was no place for him to go locally, no place for him to stay for the treatment he needed and often those afflicted don’t want to leave their home to travel somewhere for treatment. It’s just too traumatic.

More than a need, it’s a must

Inpatient facilities have to be made available to smaller communities. The Mat-Su is not a small community anymore, though it is largely rural. The need is there and our community members in need shouldn’t have to make an hour trip to Anchorage to receive the proper care. Often there is not enough time. Can you imagine what the hour trip would be like if you had to drive someone who was a harm to themselves or possibly others to Anchorage? Or the trauma of an ambulance ride for the patient — not to mention the expense?

We need this facility in the Mat-Su. It’s not just a need it’s a ‘have to have’. It really is a matter of life and death.

Your input is needed

There will be a public hearing concerning the certificate of need at the Frontier Building in Anchorage located at 3601 C St Room 890-896 on Wednesday Aug. 16 at 4:30 p.m. Your support would be much appreciated. You can also submit a letter or email prior to August 22 to:

Alexandria Hicks, Certificate of Need Coordinator Department of Health and Social Services, Office of Rate Review 3601 C Street, Suite 978 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: (907) 754-3428; Fax: (907) 334-2220 Email: ALEXANDRIA.HICKS@ALASKA.GOV