Seattle Children's Hospital Resident Welcome Letter
Updated last 4/4/2015
Welcome To Bethel!
The Paris of the Kuskokwim!
Important Information
House Address: 223 Akiak Apt B
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1630, Bethel, AK 99559
House Phone: 907-543-2830
Pager: Computer Pager for Pediatric Resident. To page you from Anchorage, someone would need to call our operator at 907-543-6300 to have them text page you through the computer icon.
Diane Wasuli-Dock: Office 543-6208 (contact person for flight/taxi vouchers/forms/etc)
Resident Site Coordinator: Jennifer Hampton Jennifer_Hampton@ykhc.org (907) 545-4590
Housing issues: Frieda 543-6525 or for frozen pipes/heat issues Jenni Dobson
Lockout: Find extra temporary set in “Haggerty” mailbox in ER doc office on the wall
Technology: 543-6070 Use this for technology issues at work or Frieda for internet at home 543-6525
Travel: Diane Wasuli-Dock is your contact for flights and pick-up among other things
Recommendations Before Your Trip
Figure out whether or not to forward your mail to the provided P.O. Box.
A Pediatric Residency laptop will be provided for you while you are here and should be left at the resident house or with Diane for the next resident to use. There is also wireless internet in the house for you to use your laptop (please use data sparingly as it is limited).
Make a shopping trip to stock up on food and save money. You are allowed three checked bags/bins up to 50 pounds each for free on the flight including carry-on and small carry-on (backpack). The residency has provided one 18 gallon bin to help with this.
There is a normal size refrigerator/freezer to keep frozen/refrigerated goods for the weeks while you are in Bethel if you want to bring perishable items in a cooler for the plane trip. Ice is illegal to bring on planes, so the prior recommendations have been to use frozen vegetables (some have even used frozen milk).
For fresh fruits and vegetables while you are in Bethel, the major store carries its fair share, but Full Circle Farm (www.fullcircle.com) does deliver to the area. You can open an account and stop delivery while you are away from Bethel. There is also a local farmers market open on Saturday from 8:00am to 1:00 pm and Wednesday from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
Directions to the house
Diane Wasuli-Dock can pick you up from the airport if you have arranged that with her ahead of time by emailing Diane_Wasuli-Dock@ykhc.org.
However, it’s nice to have a backup plan. There are taxis at the airport that could take you to your house if you don’t find him and they should know how to get there for $7. From the airport – take the main road out of the airport. Take this, Chief Eddie Hoffman “Highway,” past the hospital parking lot, just past the courthouse and take a left onto Akiak. The building is about three blocks down on the left. Enter the building where it says “A” and enter the second door on the right to apartment B. You will likely be sharing the 3-bedroom townhouse with a Family Medicine Resident and possibly a locums physician.
House Basics
There is a washer and dryer in arctic entry way to the apartment. You have unlimited city water, so no need to worry about usage, unlike many homes in Bethel. Be aware of this when visiting other peoples’ homes. They may be conserving water, since it is delivered on a weekly to biweekly schedule.
There is a crib that can be put together, but if there is a child coming, please notify Amanda Soliai or Jennifer Hampton who can arrange alternate housing through Diane Wasuli-Dock.
Dishes and sleeping bag for your village visit. Please notify Jennifer if it is missing so she can buy you another one.
Keys
There should be three sets of keys – one set for each of the three people living there. A master set is located in Marcia Haggerty’s ER Mailbox in the ER Doc office. Diane Wasuli-Dock will also have a spare.
Transportation
You will be supplied with cab vouchers while you are here and can sign up to use the resident vehicle. You are centrally located within a 10-15 minute walk to the hospital and grocery store.
Taxi drivers do not expect to get tipped in Bethel. There is a flat fee of $5-10 per person if you have to pay out of your pocket. If you do take a taxi in town, you may occasionally have to make several other stops to pick-up/drop off other passengers.
Your First Days
Be prepared for a one day orientation with tour and stops to get your badge and passwords. After your first day of orientation, you will be given an introduction to our electronic computer system and then spend a few days shadowing our pediatric providers in clinic. After 3-5 days, you will have your own schedule of patients.
Hospital Essentials
There are scrubs in the men’s locker room in the OB section of the hospital. Just knock before you go in. Please return them at the end of the rotation ---much appreciated by Dr. Bowerman who orders them. He prefers that none are taken from the hospital and left in a dirty laundry bin before you leave the hospital at the end of each shift.
Pager
If the pager is not on the desk at the house, Diane Wasuli-Dock probably has it. Hopefully your classmate didn’t leave with it.
Telephone
There is a slight delay in “transmission” when calling outside of Bethel. For long distance, you have been provided with a cell phone # (907) 545-3234. Unfortunately, the only cell phones that work in Bethel are Bethel based phones. If you have an iphone (or other cell phone with a SIM card), you can purchase a SIM card from GCI in town and sign up for a plan with them on a month to month basis. Internet Internet is available at the resident house. Internet usage is monitored, so downloads and streaming are monitored. If you go over, the landlord must pay a significant overage fee. General internet usage is ok, but please avoid downloading movies or books and streaming movies or tv.
Water
You will probably want to filter your water for drinking. There is a Brita filter in the kitchen. You can drink the water unfiltered, but you probably won’t want to. Currently, the house has several filters in the kitchen cupboards above the oven. Ask the current resident when it was last changed.
Laundry
I would check with the resident who was there before you if there is any detergent there, and consider bringing some with you from Anchorage. Detergent is pretty expensive in Bethel.
Cleaning Supplies
There are limited cleaning supplies in the house. Please leave the place at least as clean, or cleaner than you found it, and replace cleaning supplies if needed. There is a vacuum in the house.
Garbage: There is no garbage service in Bethel. There are dumpsters all over town and close to the resident housing. Please place any garbage in the nearby dumpster.
Food/Kitchen
The kitchen has everything you need, including microwave, coffee pot, toaster, etc. There may also be some staples, spices, and other food items left by previous residents. Some foods are very expensive in Bethel, and others are more in line with Anchorage prices. Meat is not much more expensive than Anchorage. A bag of chips is $7-9 dollars though. Milk is approximately $8/gallon. Produce is comparable to Anchorage. If you have specific questions about what, if anything, to bring with you as far as food goes, or food costs, ask the previous residents. Ice is illegal on most airlines, so if you take the cooler, pack it with frozen foods, or the refreezable cold packs.
Banks
There is a Wells Fargo Bank and Alaska USA in the building with Video World next to the AC grocery store. There is an Alaska USA ATM in the entrance to the hospital. There is a Well’s Fargo ATM at the movie theater across from the hospital. There is a non-denominational ATM at AC. There is also a First National Bank of Alaska on the riverfront.
The post office is on the highway, on the left as you come in to town before the hospital. The window is open 9-5:30 Monday-Friday for packages. The lobby and P.O. Box access is open 7 a.-m. - 7 p.m. M-F and 7 a.-m. - 2 p.m. Sat.
Postcards of Bethel and Christmas cards are available at the Moravian Bookstore.
Gym
YKHC has a small gym in the admin building, across from the hospital. It is open 24 hours with afterhours badge access. It costs $25 a month if you want to work out. Check in to it at orientation if you are interested. There is a universal machine as well as treadmills and elliptical machines. There are showers also available in this gym. A swimming pool and work out center for the community has also been built since 2014 to which you are welcome to join on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
Grocery Stores
AC Value Center: Largest grocery store. Watch for sales in the Delta Discovery newspaper. They sell snow machines in the back and clothing upstairs!
Sammy’s Market:
Quick Food Center I & II (“The Q”): – expensive convenience-type store on the highway near Blueberry subdivision with soft serve ice cream
Activities
Owl Park: (heading out to Tundra ridge on the left) Newest playground, lots of big, yellow plastic slides and swings.
Children’s Play Group: Tuesday from 11-12pm @ Seventh Day Adventist Church. Call for directions and info, 543-1747. The appreciate if you donate 1 or 2 dollars to help fund toys for the play group. Parent run and supported play group.
Story Hour: Wed from 11-12pm @ Kuskokwim Consortium Library (great computer for kids, children’s videos and books).
Library: open 7 days per week? Call or stop by for hours. Nice place to read. Good selection of mags and newspapers. Nice seating along the river. Lots of books and a few movies. Internet access available here.
Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge : interesting displays of stuffed wildlife in the area with info about the animals and refuge. Good place to get info on bird watching, berry picking, fishing, etc. Movies on Saturday.
Walks: In the summertime, up the road from Larson subdivision, there is a path that goes out on the right side behind a gate that says no trespassing. WE take that to mean motorized vehicles, not us… Also, part way to Kasayuli Subdivision there is a path on the left after the big curve around to the right that has a nice path that goes out to the airport. Both are good for cranberries and blueberries as well as beautiful views. You can also walk down by the river…reached by walking across the street from the hospital and behind the admin building along a dirt road and turning left when you get to the river…Or ask someone where Pinky’s park is in City sub for some boardwalks across the tundra but within the circle of town.
In the wintertime, be very cautious about skiing or hiking on the trails. Snow machines travel very fast and their ability to see you can be very limited, esp. in the long hours of darkness. One of the docs here got run over by a sno-go and ended up with a compound tib/fib fx. Beware!
Video Rentals: Library for free. Video World, next to AC, for one night rentals with a good selection of movies. There is no rhyme or reason to how they file their videos so expect to spend a long time finding a specific video. AC also rents for the same cost as Video World. AC has a 3 non-new release movies for 3 days for 3 dollars on Tuesday(?). Also the new videos show up on Tuesday. Otherwise it is $3/night.
Coffee Shop: At the upstairs area of the Grant Aviation building if you need a fix of your favorite hot coffee drink. They also have some pastries and baked bread there as well. They also make pretty good sandwiches. Wi-fi available there.
Coffee at the YK “giftshop”: This is a coffee stand that also sells float coats at the YKHC Admin bldg.
Saturday Market: There is a Saturday market held at the cultural center that occurs every now and then. Many local arts and crafts are brought in for sale. During the winter time, Saturday markets are not held regularly but is announced. Watch for the schedule.
Before You Leave
Wash your bed sheets and towels. Clean the house. Finish all your notes. Return your gym key. Put in a forwarding address for your mail back to Anchorage. Return any scrubs you borrowed Contact the next resident and let them know where you will leave the keys to the house, the laptop, the pager, and the pediatric residency cell phone.
