A+ health care for Alaskans: Alaska's hospitals provide plenty of reasons for patients to stay in state.

• Author: Orr, Vanessa

For years, Alaskans with serious illnesses or injuries had no choice but to leave the state to find proper medical treatment. While they may have preferred to stay closer to home, the facilities and technologies of the time were simply not advanced enough to provide them with the medical care they required. Today, however, most Alaskans can feel confident that if they need medical help, there are regional and tertiary hospitals within the state that can treat them as well as they would get treated down South-and in some cases, even better.

"We actually have more services than many hospitals of a comparable size in the Lower 48," explained Marijo C. Toner, Ph.D., communications manager, Bartlett Regional Hospital. "Because we are not within driving distance of a major metropolitan area, we have an expansive number of services available, as well as a staff of exceptional physicians."

While Bartlett Regional Hospital is unique in that it is located in Juneau, a city' only accessible by plane or boat, hospitals in the state's less remote areas, like Anchorage, are also providing patients with an increasing number of services, and access to the latest technologies. "Our goal ultimately is to bring new technologies to Alaska and to upgrade our facilities so that Alaskans will have access to the health care they need within the state, instead of having to go Outside," said Karma Jennings, strategic communications manager, Providence Alaska Medical Center. "There are a lot of misconceptions about what's available in Alaska--there is a lot more here than people realize."

In-State vs. Out-of-State

While there are still a few services that Alaska hospitals cannot provide, the majority of patients' needs can be met in-state. "There are some specialties that are not available, like organ transplants, because the cost of providing that specialty is prohibitive in comparison to how many transplants we'd actually do," explained Jennings. "On the other hand, Providence offers a large number of technology-based services that are not available at smaller hospitals, including lab testing, radiology and diagnostics.

"We are the only hospital in Alaska with a pediatric oncologist to treat children with cancer, and we also offer gynecological oncology services," Jennings added. "Now women and children who used to have to leave Alaska can be treated right here."

According to Kjerstin Lastufka, director of public relations and marketing for Alaska Regional Hospital, new technologies have helped them care for patients who once would have...