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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Alaska health care officials worried about steep rise in Covid-19 hospitalizations

A spike in Covid-19 cases pushed the 49th state to third in the nation, for highest increase in hospitalizations over the past two weeks. This rise is leading to reinstatement of some early pandemic pre-vaccine emergency measures throughout the state.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CN) — A spike in Covid-19 cases pushed the 49th state to third in the nation for highest increase in hospitalizations over the past two weeks, behind Louisiana and Alabama.

This steep rise prompted leaders of the Alaska State Hospitals and Nursing Home Association, representing Alaska’s largest hospitals, to call a rare news conference on Tuesday.

“This is extremely serious,” said Jared Kosin, head of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association. Kosin said it’s only the second time in about a decade that the association has scheduled a news conference

“We do not do this lightly,” he said. “Why we’re here right now is many of Alaska’s hospitals — especially our highest care settings in Anchorage — are at or near capacity."

Hospitalizations are back to December levels, according to Kosin, while the increase comes amid the usual summer uptick in patients, plus added hiring challenges.

This is all leading to reinstatement of some early pandemic pre-vaccine emergency measures. One Anchorage hospital is now limiting its non-emergency surgeries and reopening its Covid wing. Another is postponing elective surgeries.

Alaska’s rise in coronavirus patients comes as much of the United States experiences increases. This latest rise in cases is being largely driven by the highly contagious delta variant working its way through the unvaccinated.

According to local leaders, Alaskans now hospitalized with the coronavirus are generally sicker, younger — between ages 30 and 55 — and unvaccinated.

“The vast majority of people who are sick enough to require oxygen and require hospital care have been people who are unvaccinated,” said Dr. Elliot Bruhl, chief medical officer of the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium.

Southeast Alaska, also known as the Alaska Panhandle, encompasses the state capital of Juneau as well as several small port towns including Sitka, Ketchikan, Petersburg and Wrangell. The community of Sitka is in the middle of its largest Covid-19 outbreak of the pandemic yet.

“The Anchorage shortage of available beds is a real concern for those of us who practice here in the southeast and in these communities, because we rely on Anchorage to be a resource if we’re overwhelmed,” Bruhl said. “So, we’ve been looking to Seattle at the present time if need be,” she added.

Providence Alaska Medical Center, Alaska’s largest hospital located in Anchorage, has been operating at capacity for several weeks with nearly all of its ICU beds consistently full, according to hospital chief executive Ella Goss.

Providence is now postponing nonurgent elective surgeries that would require an overnight stay. Gross said the hospital’s biggest challenge right now is not Covid but staffing, which makes any increase in intakes problematic.

“While Covid-19 is not the largest contributor to our capacity issues currently, an additional wave of Covid cases would be throwing kerosene on fire,” Gross said.

As of Tuesday, 94 Alaskan were hospitalized with Covid, and 338 new cases in residents and 38 in nonresidents reported, according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services data daily dashboard. Another state dashboard shows about 420 non-ICU beds available statewide and 42 ICU beds open.

“At this rate, we’re tracking toward a significant care event,” Kosin said. “And on the downside here, the health care system is in a far more fragile state than it was before: We have less room. We have less staff, and we have a burned-out workforce.”

Kosin did try to spin a positive. “On the upside,” Kosin added, “we have an effective tool in play, and that’s the vaccine.”

Dan Winkelman, head of the Bethel-based Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp., the largest hub for western Alaska villages, joined Kosin and others at the press conference to warn about the surge in patients and urge more people to get vaccinated.

“It’s déjà vu all over again,” Winkelman said. “Unfortunately, we’re kind of starting off like it was last fall, at least out here in the Y-K Delta, and that’s very concerning.”

Like much of the nation, Alaska’s vaccination rates have stalled and prior Covid-19 mask wearing, testing and quarantining mandates have expired or moved to advisory levels. Communities across Alaska differ on requirements to stem the spread.

Kosin said his organization is urging local policymakers to pay attention and respond to the latest wave of cases.

“It’s going to be up to policymakers to make informed decisions,” he said. “We’re giving you the information. This is extremely serious. We know the vaccines are our best bet. We also know that masking works, and we’re seeing different markets deploy specific masking requirements. But we also understand the reality that a lot of people have to come on board and make those calls.”

Also on Tuesday, Governor Mike Dunleavy issued a statement urging Alaskans to use good judgment and practice common safety measures as Alaska’s limited health care 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”, Dunleavy stated. “When you add seasonal workers, a health care 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.”

Dunleavy urged the public to take advantage of free Covid-19 vaccine, likening this to everyday personal safety decisions.

“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.”

Categories / Government, Health, Regional

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