Surgical Services

At Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, we're dedicated to providing quality surgical care and our goal is to exceed our patients' expectations. Our Surgery Department offers the convenience of same day outpatient surgery as well as traditional inpatient surgical services all in a comforting and caring atmosphere.
 
Mat-Su Regional's Surgical Services encompass all care prior, during and immediately following a patient's surgery. The Surgical Services team is specially trained and certified to prepare patients for and assist physicians with surgery to ensure a safe and swift recovery. Both inpatient and outpatient surgeries are performed by Mat-Su Regional Medical Center's Surgical Services Department.

Preparing for Surgery

The night before surgery, please follow these guidelines:

• Eat a light dinner.
• Do not use alcohol, street drugs, or over-the-counter drugs. (Including cigarettes and chewing tobacco)
• Do not eat or drink after midnight. (Including gum, candy, and water)
• Take prescription drugs with sips of water unless specifically told not to do so by your doctor.
• Take a complete bath or shower before coming to the hospital, with special attention given to the area to be operated on.
• Wash your hair and contain long hair in a braid, ponytail, or otherwise.
• Do not apply any makeup, deodorant, body powders, etc., to any area near the surgical site after your bath or shower.
• Wear comfortable clothing that will not be tight on the surgical site.
• Do not wear contact lenses, jewelry, or any valuables.
• Remove all nail polish.

The evening before your procedure or surgery, a short-stay nurse will call you to confirm your admission and surgery times and answer any questions you may have. At that time, additional information regarding your hospital stay will be given. An anesthesiologist may also contact you to obtain a health history, discuss anesthesia choices with you and answer any questions you may have. 

If your physical condition changes between the time you see your doctor and the time of your surgery, notify your doctor. (For example, if you develop a fever, come down with a cold, etc.) If you are to have a general anesthesia or conscious sedation, have a responsible adult with you to drive you home after your operation, as you will not be released to drive yourself. For the comfort of all our patients, we prefer that you have only one support person at a time with you in the pre-op and recovery areas of short stay surgery.

During surgery, patients' friends and family are invited to wait in the Surgery Waiting Room. This comfortable area offers a quiet setting to read and relax or make phone calls. The waiting room staff and volunteers are there to serve as a liaison between the patient's family and the Surgical Services nursing staff and can answer questions and get updates as needed.

After Surgery

After surgery, patients are brought to the Post-Operative Unit (Recovery). Here patients recover from surgery under the watchful eye of registered nurses trained in post-operative patient care. In this unit, the nurses have constant visual contact with their patients and are never more than just a few steps from their bedside. During recovery, the anesthesiologist and nurse will confer often as they monitor the patient's progress. It is during this time that the surgeon and or nurse will typically meet with the waiting family to update them on the patient's progress.

From the Post-Operative Unit, those undergoing outpatient surgery will be released to go home when they are determined by the nurse and physician to be medically stable. These patients will receive post-operative instructions from their nurse. They will also receive a follow-up phone call one or two days after surgery. Surgery patients requiring a post-operative inpatient stay will be taken to an inpatient room when they are medically stable. Those patients will recuperate under the care of a registered nurse on the appropriate unit - ICU, progressive care or post-surgical unit. The nurse will work with the surgeon, and other physicians if necessary, to prepare the patient for a timely discharge.

For more information on the surgical services provided at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, please call 907-861-6981.