children's hospitals (Anchorage, Ketchikan: insurance, to live, cost)

[lisaagogo]

My husband and I would love to move to alaska. The one problem is that we have a severly handicapped child. As it is we have to commute to her specialsts and anytime that she is sick. We need to know if there are any hospitals in Alaska that handle special needs specifically with children?

[Marylandkitten]

Without really knowing much information on your special needs, as far as a hospital goes, or where in Alaska you would be locating to - try starting here?

Try going here : I have no idea why my links are acting up like this..

Providence Health & Services Alaska

Stone Soup Group's On-line Resource Guide -- Health & Nutrition (broken link)

[zeeky]

Not sure what type of issues your child has, or where you are planning to move to, but for the more serious/severe children's health issues- Children's Hospital & Medical Center in Seattle covers a total of 5 states- Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska & I believe Montana. Now, in an emergency situation- you are looking at a very expensive airlift from many areas. Sometimes the airlift arrives fairly soon- and sometimes they cannot get there for several hours. In a situation where MINUTES can count- that is scary!

I live in SE and have had to visit CHMC on 3 different occasions- it isn't fun to travel that far & is quite expensive to get to/from where I live. But even being that far away- they can be a GODSEND!

Depending on the severity/area- Juneau & Ketchikan can handle some bigger issues. I'm not familiar with Anchorage- they likely have the ability to do a lot more than we have in SE?

Not to add drama or fear to your decision, but coming from a parent who has LOST due to the distance/TIME it took to get to CHMC from our town in SE- I would choose the area you want to live VERY carefully. Many of the Drs. in the smaller communities are not as educated in "the big things" and it can be devastating.

I can tell you the time/distance to those Drs. that ARE educated in the more serious children's issues played a huge roll in saving one of my childrens lives, as well as the loss of one of my other children.

I love Alaska! I was born & raised in SE but that IS a big down fall in the more remote areas- a down fall many never have to face, but if you DO- it can be a life long devastating situation.

Good luck! You are very wise to look into this prior to your move!

[rotorhead]

I've said it before, but it bears repeating. The airplane is probably the most important medical device in common use (and I mean every day) in Alaska. With a state population about the same as the city of Baltimore spread out over an area over twice as big as Texas, you cannot reasonably expect that ANY specialist medical care will be available outside of the largest cities. In Alaska, that pretty much means Anchorage, which has a population almost ten times larger than the next largest city in the state. As I've said earlier, its a tribute to the recruitment efforts of the various hospitals that there are any other doctors in Alaska besides GPs and ER docs. Even in the capital city (Juneau) it's a constant battle to attract and maintain adequate and competent medical staff, and the situation is much more difficult in the true "bush" communities.

I hate to say it, but if your childs medical needs require regular attendance at a childrens hospital, in all probability Alaska is not a good place for you to live. Emergency medivac flights from Anchorage to Seattle or elsewhere in the lower 48 usually bill in the tens of thousands of dollars, and the full cost is almost never covered by insurance. Even for "routine" visits to WA state or the west coast, the airline bill alone will be cost prohibitive unless you are very wealthy or work for an airline.

If it turns out that your childs medical needs can be provided for in Alaska, keep in mind that the rate of turnover for specialty physicians can be very high. If there is only one doctor or a single medical facility in the state that can do what you need, what happens if he moves or they close down? Will your next alternative be three thousand miles away?

I'd say that you need to be quite sure about your information on this issue. The three main hospitals in Anchorage are Providence Medical Center, Alaska Regional, and the Alaska Native Medical Center (treatment at the latter facility is available solely to American Indians and Alaska Natives).All of them have extensive websites, and a multitude of telephone contact numbers.

[lisaagogo]

Kim is prone to phenumonia. She suffered a brain injury when she was 18 months old. Since then she can not eat, talk, nor walk. She is dependent on us for everything. Currently we live in florida and deal with doctors here who have no idea what to do with her. We drive about 3 hours to see her doctors when she is sick and recently she had to be flown to a hospital south of us only to be taken by ambulance to her doctors in north florida. Good to get some feedback. Thank you!