The Alaska State Hospitals and Nursing Home Association has taken to social media asking for Alaskans to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as hospitalizations continue to push medical facilities to near-capacity.
Bruce Richards, Director of External Affairs for Central Peninsula Hospital told KSRM:
“We’re no different than any of the other hospitals you’re hearing about. We are currently at or near capacity. I know there’s a couple of open beds in the OB department, but the med surge unit is full and IC unit is full. We have had a busy couple of weeks and certainty we have seen an increase in COVID cases coming both through the ED (emergency department) and then some of them being admitted. Certainly not everyone is admitted. Currently right now, we have 12 positive inpatient COVID cases.”
Richards says that the increased COVID cases is affecting visitation:
“We did curtail visiting yesterday limiting it to one person per patient and that it be the same person each time. It used to be you could trade off, you know, different family members come through and now, we have notched that down to one patient, one visitor, and it’s the same visitor. There are some exceptions and I would encourage people to go to our website and click the red bar up above for the visitation rules.”
Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer said on July 19th that 96% of the state’s hospitalizations and 98% of the deaths from COVID-19 are reportedly from unvaccinated individuals. Richards said:
“Yeah, that’s what I’m hearing from upstairs is that the majority are unvaccinated. I don’t have hard numbers for you, but that is what I’m hearing from those that are treating patients that they are unvaccinated.”
As hospitals near capacity, Gov. Mike Dunleavy released a statement urging Alaskans to use good judgement and practice common safety measures as the state’s healthcare infrastructure contends with a high rate of hospitalizations:
“Summer in Alaska is unparalleled – with boundless opportunities for locals and tourists to experience the great outdoors, it is a common summer occurrence that our hospitals teeter on the edge of full capacity. When you add seasonal workers, a healthcare staffing shortage, and a highly contagious disease such as COVID-19 into the mix, it elevates the need to take extra precautionary measures to lighten the load on our hospitals. There are many everyday actions we all can take to ensure the personal safety of ourselves and our neighbors, including driving safely, using the right protective gear when operating power tools and machinery, wearing a life jacket, preparing for the elements, extinguishing our camp and cooking fires, as well as choosing to take advantage of a free COVID-19 vaccine, which I have done. Make no mistake: while to some of us these requests sound menial, watching out for each other can save us or a loved one a trip to a hospital with our overstretched doctors, nurses, and paramedics.”
The governor’s call to action comes after leaders from the state’s healthcare facilities announced concern with hospitals, especially in southcentral, at capacity and experiencing staffing limits, which impacts the ability to treat patients.
