An Anchorage legislator says Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed cut of Medicaid spending would result in major job losses and force Alaska hospitals to cancel tens of millions of dollars in planned capital improvements.
“Hundreds of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of local capital investments are on the line,” said Rep. Zack Fields, D-Anchorage, and co-chair of the House State Affairs Committee. “We need stability and predictability for businesses in our communities.”
Becky Hultberg, president of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association, recently told the House State Affairs Committee that “as a result of the budget announcement, Alaska Regional (Hospital in Anchorage) has put its planned 26 in-patient behavioral health unit on hold, perhaps indefinitely.
“Mat-Su (Regional Hospital) is planning a psychiatric in-patient. They’re also planning to expand their emergency department. It’s the fastest-growing area in the state, and they have a planned in-patient expansion,” she told the committee on March 7. “All of those right now are threatened and under reconsideration. It amounts to over $55 million of capital spending in that community.”
