How You Can Help

1. Please sign this petition if you believe that Alaskans living in Eagle River / Chugiak area deserve deserve quick access to emergency care.

2. Please write a letter of support to the Alaska Dispatch: letters@alaskadispatch.com or fax 258-2157.

3. Please ask your friends and neighbors to do the same.

4. Would you or a loved one have benefited from emergency care in your community? Share your story with us here.

5. Learn the truth about freestanding emergency departments in the “myths vs facts” section below.

6. Thank you for taking the time to read through this site and take action in support of emergency room access in your community. If you have questions or comments, please contact Heather at 227-2556. Thank you!

This petition is brought to you by Alaska Regional Hospital.

According to the State of Alaska, the Municipality of Anchorage will need approximately 12 more emergency room beds between now and 2022 to support projected population growth.

Alaska is a “certificate of need” state, meaning that the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services must review and approve proposed projects to expand healthcare services for Alaskans.

Last December, Alaska Regional Hospital submitted a certificate of need application to the State of Alaska to request approval to build and operate a freestanding emergency department (FSED) in Eagle River.

In July, the State of Alaska denied Alaska Regional’s proposal. We believe this decision was a result of misinformation provided to the state by those who are opposed to our proposal, and a misunderstanding of the way healthcare delivery and FSEDs work. At the bottom of this page, there is a “Myth vs. Fact” breakdown that addresses some of the most common misconceptions.

Innovative, Proactive Healthcare

Designed to provide 24/7 access to emergency services, a freestanding emergency department is essentially the same as a hospital-based emergency department room without the physical attachment to a hospital. Staffed with board-certified emergency room physicians and experienced staff, it is prepared to treat most medical emergencies, provide stabilization and transfer patients to their hospital of choice when a higher level of care is required.

Quick Access for our Community

The location Alaska Regional selected in Eagle River is 15 to 20 minutes closer to many residences, enabling most patients to avoid the busy midtown medical district where large Anchorage hospitals are all within a two-mile radius of each other. Diversifying emergency locations will also relieve the congestion in busy hospital-based emergency departments.

Myths vs. Facts

MYTH: Receiving care at a freestanding emergency department will be more expensive than providing that same care in a traditional hospital emergency department. “…I am concerned about valuing convenience over cost.” – Commissioner Valerie Davidson, September 14, 2015

FACT: If just one life is saved by accessing lifesaving care close to home, it is worth it. We have heard many stories from friends and neighbors where they or a loved one barely made it to a hospital in time to receive lifesaving care. We have also heard heartbreaking stories that may have had a different outcome if emergency care had been readily accessible and available in communities beyond the congested midtown Anchorage medical corridor.

FACT: Approximately 40,000 Alaskans live in the Chugiak-Eagle River area and 50,000 commuters travel the Glenn Highway daily. Under optimal conditions, this community is at least 20 minutes from a major hospital, though traffic is often delayed or stopped due to weather, accidents or wildlife. Imagine that your child is suffering a seizure, or your loved one is having heart attack or stroke symptoms in an ambulance or vehicle bound for an Anchorage hospital, when traffic comes to a standstill on the only road leading out of Eagle River. This scenario is not out of the ordinary.

A freestanding emergency department does not take the place of a hospital. It provides sophisticated emergency care for those with access challenges. A freestanding emergency department provides quick diagnosis and treatment of time-sensitive medical conditions, and can result in fewer occurrences of patients driving long distances to reach care while compromised by severe health conditions. It can provide a high level of care to stabilize and transfer a patient who may require hospitalization.

FACT: An emergency room visit does cost more than an urgent care clinic visit because the patient receives a higher level of care. A primary care or urgent care clinic visit costs less because it provides a lower level of care with different equipment capabilities and is staffed with different competencies.

MYTH: Freestanding emergency departments are not efficient or effective because they cannot offer surgery, trauma care or heart services onsite.

FACT: Out of all the hospitals across Alaska, only four hospitals currently have all those services available on site 24 hours a day. The others require patient transfers to a larger hospital or calling in a team to meet those needs immediately. At the same time, these healthcare facilities provide meaningful, lifesaving care to critical populations on a daily basis all across the state.

FACT: A very high percentage of people who come to hospital emergency departments are treated and able to return home without needing to be admitted.

MYTH: Most patients at a freestanding emergency department could be treated in a less expensive setting such as an urgent care clinic or primary care physician’s office. Therefore, emergency care in Eagle River is not needed.

FACT: Primary and urgent care clinics send patients to emergency departments every day because they do not have the same training or equipment to treat emergent situations. Primary care and urgent care physicians are trained differently and have different equipment.

FACT: Primary care and urgent care physicians are trained in long-term health maintenance and routine care. Freestanding emergency department physicians are American Board of Emergency Medicine-certified (ABEM) and have completed full residencies in emergency medicine. They are trained to treat pediatric and adult emergencies as well as provide evaluation and stabilization of critical care patients covering a wide spectrum of care.

FACT: There is no daily urgent care available in Eagle River after 8 p.m. A freestanding emergency department would be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year.

FACT: When saving lives sometimes depends on a matter of seconds, Alaska Regional believes that diversifying access to emergency services and locating them closer to home is a worthwhile investment that provides multiple benefits to our communities.

MYTH: Being seen at a freestanding emergency department adds expense to a hospital visit because if the patient needs hospitalization, there will be another emergency department visit at the hospital.

FACT: The price of being treated at a freestanding emergency department is the same as being seen at the hospital emergency department. If a patient is seen at a freestanding emergency department, and needs to be admitted, there’s no need to stop in the ER at the hospital, and they will be admitted and go straight to the inpatient unit.

FACT: Many concerns about higher costs are related to the fear that residents will use the freestanding emergency department to access primary care. We can connect patients with the primary care or urgent care resources that they need.

This petition is brought to you by Alaska Regional Hospital.