Samuel Simmonds Memorial Hospital offers an excellent array of services for Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow).
Recently, I accompanied a 75-year-old woman from my building to the emergency room. On a Friday, I was alerted by another resident that she looked "bad." Certainly, her sheet-white face indicated something was not right.
I went downstairs to the lobby where she always hung out and asked if I could take her oxygen level -it was 85, a level that indicated she was beginning to have insufficient oxygen for her organs to function.
She refused to go to the hospital, but would on Monday if it was lower. And Monday it was 79.
Feisty and stubborn, she agreed and off we went in the ambulance. These are good traits in seniors until they interfere with a situation that could become life threatening.
She stayed for eight nights, had three blood transfusions, lots of tests and potassium pills because she had none.
Harvard University Medical School advises, "Potassium is necessary for the normal functioning of all cells. It regulates the heartbeat, ensures proper function of the muscles and nerves, and is vital for synthesizing protein and metabolizing carbohydrates.
"Thousands of years ago, when humans roamed the earth gathering and hunting, potassium was abundant in the diet, while sodium was scarce. The so-called Paleolithic diet delivered about 16 times more potassium than sodium.
"Today, most Americans get barely half of the recommended amount of potassium in their diets. The average American diet contains about twice as much sodium as potassium, because of the preponderance of salt hidden in processed or prepared foods, not to mention the dearth of potassium in those foods. This imbalance, which is at odds with how humans evolved, is thought to be a major contributor to high blood pressure, which affects one in three American adults."
By the time she came home she had pink in her cheeks and looked decades younger.
I visited her every day and was her advocate by pointing out to the nurse that her two ports (used to inject medicine) looked like they needed to be looked to.
An advocate is critical
If someone close to you, say a friend or a family member, has any medical training they are the best person to advocate for you in the hospital to make sure the medical team explains what's happening clearly so the patient and everyone else understands what is wrong, what care management is needed and the prognosis, meaning what happens in the future or how many years the patient has left to live.
Hospitals are busy places with staff charged with many patients and an advocate helps you to be noticed and fights for proper treatment.
The elderly population in the United States has skyrocketed, according to the US Census Bureau.
"The U.S. population age 65 and over grew nearly five times faster than the total population over the 100 years from 1920 to 2020, according to the 2020 Census.
The older population reached 55.8 million or 16.8% of the population of the United States in 2020."
The Alaska Commission on Aging's most recent "Senior Snapshot" report states that in 2025, Alaska had 162,175 seniors ages 60+, representing 21.9% of the state's population (738,737). This is up from 14.5% in 2010. The state's 60+ population increased by 78%, from 90,876 in 2010 to 162,175 in 2025. https://bit.ly/4gooCQk
Additionally, the University of Washington's Center for health and Workforce Studies notes, "In 2021 the estimated number of physicians providing direct patient care in Alaska was 1,751, 19% higher than the estimated number practicing in 2014. There were an estimated 240 physicians per 100,000 population providing direct patient care in Alaska, including 95 primary care physicians per 100,000 population in 2021."
An advocate helps you make your love one above the numbers of seniors needing medical care.
Also remember, make yourself memorable by engaging the doctor and nurses and asking pertinent questions to have them understand you know what's going on, and an advocate can help you do that.
