ASD Nurses Play Critical Role in Flattening the Curve With the Anchorage Health Department
Posted about 5 years ago by Annette Johansen
On the fourth floor inside the Jewel Jones conference room at the Anchorage Health Department sits nine tables, stacks of papers, several whiteboards and a handful of Anchorage School District nurses working alongside health department officials.
The task: contacting those infected and quarantined due to the Coronavirus COVID-19, making sure they are staying isolated and checking to see if they need anything.
There are 60 school nurses volunteering to assist with a variety of essential tasks related to the community response according to Jennifer Patronas, Health Care Services Director for the Anchorage School District. Twenty-eight are working with Anchorage Health Department, two are working at the Municipal Emergency Operations Center and 30 are working to answer 2-1-1 calls. Of the 60 nurses, 35 are trained and ready to assist at mobile testing sites if needed.
“The support that our school nurses have provided during this pandemic has benefited the entire community,” Patronas said.
She said they have been serving as a professional link between the school district, health department, and emergency operations center and are key in providing accurate, timely health information to our school communities and the Anchorage community as well.