SPECTRUM: Mat-Su Regional CEO gives update on behavioral health project

I want to provide an update on the Certificate of Need application Mat-Su Regional Medical Center submitted to the State of Alaska on June 27, to add 36 inpatient beds for behavioral health services on our hospital campus.

First of all, I want to thank each of you for your tremendous support in rallying around this cause. As you know, this initiative was not hospital-driven. It was a grassroots effort based on the critical need our community is facing. Many advocates from across the entire socio-economic strata came together in support of this project. We received a multitude of letters of support from community stakeholders and concerned citizens.

To give you an example of the outpouring of support, there were two public hearings. The first hearing was in Anchorage on Aug. 16. Twenty-two people from our community drove to the hearing to voice their support for this project. The second hearing was at Mat-Su College on Aug. 31. Forty-eight people gave public testimony at this hearing and endorsed our project. Both hearings had standing-room-only crowds – and not a single voice of dissent for this project. The testimonies were moving. Some were eloquent, impassioned pleas from healthcare professionals who have seen the devastation on our community because we don’t have these critical resources available. Some were the broken-hearted cries of disillusioned family members reliving the deep emotional pain of witnessing their loved one self-destruct and feeling impotent because no help was available.

I am convinced these testimonies touched the hearts of the CON staff as much as they did the rest of the audience, providing context that data alone cannot (and yes, we supplied mounds of data in our application).

We are now in the “wait and see” phase of the process. The Department of Health and Social Services, which oversees the CON process, originally projected that the commissioner would issue a determination sometime in mid-November. However, compiling the data, reviewing public testimony and preparing an analysis has taken a bit longer than the staff estimated. DHSS now anticipates a decision will be made in December. The delay is not a basis for concern. It is simply part of the process.

Once we receive a decision from the commissioner, we will quickly relay the news to our entire community. In the meantime, we wait…and continue to care for all those who come to us in need of our help.

Thank you again for your tremendous support in this process. It has been both inspiring and humbling.

About the author: Dave Wallace is the CEO of Mat-Su Regional Medical Center