Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Board of Directors has approved resources to design a short-term skilled nursing facility to alleviate the capacity challenges at ANMC. Site of the proposed skilled nursing facility on the Alaska Native Health Campus. Photographed on Wednesday, July 3, 2024.
“We refer to this as the ‘gray tsunami’ of all of our elders that are coming to age in increasing numbers,” she said. “We’re so grateful for that, but it puts a challenge on our infrastructure.” The hospital is too often on “divert status,” meaning it’s at full capacity, prompting a search for beds in other Alaska hospitals, or even outside the state, she said.“On any given day, we have 20 to 35 patients at ANMC that are well enough to leave the hospital but not quite well enough to go home,” she said. “The skilled nursing facility will be that place where those patients can go to that will free up those beds and allow flow-through.