'Think like Zink'

WASILLA — As Mat-Su Valley residents shelter in their homes, the coronavirus pandemic is spreading across the nation, including Alaska. As of Monday, 191 people in Alaska have tested positive for COVID 19, but only four of them have done so in the Mat-Su Valley.

“The work that Alaskans are doing right now is just critical. People are pushing down that curve,” said Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink at a press conference on Monday.

A total of 6,883 people in Alaska have been tested, accounting for .89 percent of Alaska’s population. Of those 6,883 tests, only .027 have tested positive for coronavirus. As health care professionals around the state use more and more swabs, masks and gowns during their work in testing Alaskans every day, more resources are making their way into the state.

Last week, Zink announced 60 additional ventilators that arrived from the national stockpile. On Monday, Zink announced 90 new Abbott rapid testing machines that had arrived, 40 of which were headed to rural communities.

Following Mat-Su Regional Medical Center and Capstone in Wasilla, who first offered testing, the MSRMC Urgent Care facilities on Crusey Street and the Lake Lucille Urgent Care on the Parks Highway have additionally opened for testing. The Urgent Care on Crusey Street provides the opportunity for patients to receive drive-up visits from a health care professional. Over the weekend, residents posted signs at the entrance to the hospital, one of which said ‘heroes work here.’

“Our community has been just phenomenal in support of us and it’s really been heartwarming to see the response,” said MSRMC Marketing Director Alan Craft.

Residents have taken to making masks that are being added to the existing personal protective equipment to maintain the safety of health care professionals providing care during the pandemic. At a press conference last week, MSRMC CEO David Wallace said that the hospital usually only has 11 ventilators, but that they have received more.

“I can tell you we have a number of ventilators that is sufficient to deal with an influx even now, and if it should get worse we are working on supply and it’s changing by the day to our favor,” said Wallace.

As of last Thursday, MSRMC had performed 118 tests for COVID 19. Of the four cases in the Mat-Su Valley, two of the three in Palmer are listed as travel related. The only positive test in Wasilla was recorded on April 1 and has not been locally attributed or attributed to travel. As many citizens around the world cheer from their homes at the change of shift for health care professionals, many Alaskans have adopted the motto to ‘think like Zink’ in response to Dr. Zink’s powerful and informative appearances on the Governor’s COVID 19 teleconference every weekday.

“I really should’ve mentioned Dr. Zink when I started my comments,” Wallace said on Thursday. “To have her as a member of our medical staff that is actually working her share of shifts in our emergency department to stay connected with what is happening in the real world, we are just truly blessed to have her.”

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