H E A LT H C A R E SPEC I A L SEC T I O N
Harbor view of PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center. PeaceHealth Ketchikan
way, a form of treatment. “The support I provide my team directly correlates with their ability to provide optimal patient care,” she says, “and that impacts more patients than I can physically treat on my own.” Support staff touch all aspects of hospital operations. Areniego observes that her environmental services crew might be called at any moment to complete unexpected tasks, but the staff is always willing to help. It provides for good job security, she adds. Healthcare professionals need the public to understand their specific fields. For instance, Orin explains that bariatric medicine is not cosmetic surgery, like tummy tucks or liposuction. “We do sleeve gastrectomies, bypasses, some centers do duodenal switches… It’s not the easy way out.” Similarly, Pfeiffer feels PTAs are misunderstood. “[M]any people would tell me that I was a wonderful PTA and ask when I was going to finish my degree to become a Physical Therapist [PT].” What those people should know, she says, is that being a PT assistant is its own career: “PTAs chose to do this and do not want to become PTs. This being Jennifer Kolanko said, after the PeaceHealth Ketchikan plan of care is established, PTAs can carry out the plan established by the 30 | December 2021
PT.” Assistants have their own training and licensure exam, so Pfeiffer says payment and reimbursement regimes should recognize their expertise. Pfeiffer and Kolanko both feel their field is underappreciated. Kolanko says physical therapists don’t just treat orthopedic and neurologic injuries: “A PT can help with dizziness, bladder dysfunction and pelvic pain, wound care, chronic pain, and swelling of the limbs after cancer care, and so much more!” She adds that the public overrates massage and ultrasound therapy; they are among the least applied interventions that she considers effective. Spencer wishes everyone knew that smaller hospitals, like Kanakanak Community Health Clinic in Dillingham, don’t necessarily have smaller problems. On the contrary: “We have to be able to maintain a patient’s life while waiting for a medevac in horrific weather. Medical staff in remote areas are trained in emergency medicine, geriatrics, and pediatrics, and encounter all types of patients at any time of the day and night.” Not that big hospitals have it easy, according to Goss. “You never truly understand the pressure, within and externally, that is on you as a chief executive to ensure that you’re not only caring for people within your scope of responsibility (all of your caregivers, all of your patients, all of your visitors, all of your physicians) but also how the community views your organization
and how one misstep or misspoken word or one small lapse in care can really affect the reputation of your facility and of your caregivers.” Goss is very concerned about being understood in the proper context, given what she calls “the political climate of the community.” She says, “You end up feeling like you can’t trust people to have conversations because you always put your best foot forward and you try to talk about things appropriately and honestly, and you try to ensure that you’re seeing both sides of the situation, and only what people want to hear is what they take away.” As COVID-19 improbably became a political issue, Zink had to keep the focus on fighting the virus. The enemy is not other people, she says, even though she’s aware some Alaskans think she tells different audiences different things. She quotes Abraham Lincoln: “No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.” Besides, Zink says “chief medical officer” sounds like a grand title, but the truth is “I have very little authority.”
Times Change Even a relatively young physician like Orin has seen rapid changes in the healthcare field. Robotics are something to stay on top of, she says. Goss adds that “digital interaction” is changing how care is provided these days, compared to the pre-internet ‘90s. “You had to go to a brick-and-mortar doctor’s office, you had to make an appointment,” says
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