Alaska has three hospitals rationing healthcare to patients amid COVID surge

There are now three hospitals in Alaska that have instituted crisis protocols as their healthcare system struggles to handle the COVID surge they currently face.

Crisis protocols allow facilities to ration care if it becomes necessary.

Between Sept. 22 and 29, data collected by Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering revealed that one out of every 84 people in the state of Alaska had COVID.

West Virginia has one out of every 164 people.

On Friday, Fairbanks Memorial Hospital in Alaska activated the crisis protocol due to a shortage in beds and staff. They’re also unable to transfer patients to other facilities.

Hospitals in Anchorage and Bethel have already activated the protocol.

Staff Report

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