Hospital administrators said the new wave of hospitalizations involve younger, sicker patients than seen previously — likely due the delta’s variant’s increased virulence.
The outbreaks are stretching the state’s health care capacity at a busy time of the year, hospital administrators said at a briefing Tuesday, convened by the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association.
“At this rate we are tracking towards a significant care event,†association president and CEO Jared Kosin said, calling the system fragile in comparison to last winter, when the pandemic peaked.
The state’s largest hospital, Providence Alaska Medical Center, is at full or nearly full capacity due to high patient numbers, said CEO Ella Goss.
Alaska Regional Hospital went from two patients with the virus on June 21 to 26 patients on Tuesday, nine in intensive care, CEO Jennifer Opsut said.
Patients with COVID-19 account for half of the 18 patients at Sitka’s 25-bed Mt Edgecumbe Hospital this week, according to Dr.
Elliot Bruhl, chief medical officer for Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, which operates the hospital.
The hospital is limiting visitors to patients only, with a few exceptions, Bruhl said.
Despite the climbing case counts and longer hospital stays, the hospital association and administrators stopped short of pushing for state or local mandates
The hospital association wants to convey the urgency of the situation to unvaccinated Alaskans, Kosin said
The association has talked with the governor’s office and others at the state level, he said