Polaris Extended Care: Staffing Crisis Harms Residents - AK
ANCHORAGE, AK. Resident #92 pressed his call light at 11:49 AM asking for nicotine gum and waited 51 minutes before anyone came to help. When staff finally arrived, he never got the gum and wheeled himself outside to smoke instead.
The scene at Polaris Extended Care illustrates a staffing crisis so severe that federal inspectors found residents experiencing actual harm from neglect. The facility operated without a full-time director of nursing for nearly a month, left cottages without cooks for days at a time, and stretched remaining staff so thin that basic care became a waiting game.
Resident #86 told inspectors that nurses now had to travel between cottages to help other residents, forcing him to wait hours for as-needed medications for shortness of breath. The delays happened so frequently he resorted to calling nurse supervisors directly when no nurses were available in his cottage.
The staffing breakdown was systematic. During the July inspection, the facility had 10 open certified nursing assistant positions and 5 open nursing positions that needed to be filled, according to Administrator interviews. But the actual shortage was even worse than those posted openings suggested.
In the Aniak cottage, no cook had worked for three consecutive days. Other cooks from different cottages were supposed to cover the duties, but the system collapsed under the strain. Meals arrived in disposable styrofoam containers from other kitchens, often cold by the time residents received them.
Resident #34 sat in his room with a cold lunch in a styrofoam container. He told inspectors the food was cold but "it was no use to call someone to warm it up as it might be forgotten in the microwave, or the staff would take a long time to come get it to heat it up." He said he "might as well eat it cold than bother the staff."
The facility's cottage model, designed to create a homelike environment with 12 residents per cottage, became a liability when staffing collapsed. Licensed Nurse #8 told inspectors that staff shortages affected their ability to spend time with residents. "It was a struggle to complete turns every 2 hours and showers," the nurse said. "Quality time with residents wasn't possible anymore."
The administration's response was to restructure rather than adequately staff. In April, the Director of Nursing told residents at a council meeting that leadership would "be creative and revamp the staffing structure" to address 17 open CNA positions. The new plan called for one CNA per cottage during the day with a four-person support team responsible for showers, weights, meal assistance, and transfers.
Residents immediately questioned the plan. One asked about toileting assistance with only one CNA per cottage, expressing concern about "waiting for assistance at night to get help to the toilet and will that also be a problem during the day?"
By June, residents were reporting the new system wasn't working. One resident shared that she "has not been getting up daily as she should and having to wait to be put back to bed causing her pain on the weekend." The Director of Nursing acknowledged that "the weekend was very challenged with caregivers calling out and staffing being extremely short."
CNA #11, who worked under the new system, told inspectors bluntly that "the 4 person CNA support teams doesn't work and cottage CNAs end up doing everything on their own."
The director of nursing position itself became emblematic of the crisis. The previous director's last full-time day was June 21, 2024. After that, she worked only from 4:00 AM to 6:00 AM on weekdays, returning in the afternoon "if needed," and working weekends from 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM or 2:00 PM "depending on need."
When inspectors asked for timesheets to verify the director's actual hours, the Administrator said none existed because the position was salary-based and the director didn't clock in and out. The director's employment ended entirely on July 15, leaving the Quality Director to serve as interim director of nursing.
The facility's Medical Director, who was only present every other week for three days, acknowledged that residents talked to her about how "staff needed help." She said low staffing was "affecting the residents with higher acuity, who required heavier assistance in cares, more than the residents who were more independent."
When asked if she was involved in leadership meetings about staffing and resident care, the Medical Director said she was "only at the facility every other week" and "didn't think it was her lane to get involved in" staffing issues.
The Administrator admitted the facility could meet residents' needs, but "not at the standard we would want to meet them." When asked about reducing the census to ease staffing strain, she said they would only consider it if the facility couldn't meet "crisis level" staffing for four consecutive days.
Meanwhile, basic safety protocols broke down. In the Aniak cottage, temperature logs showed no checks were performed on freezers and refrigerators for entire days. Expired medical supplies accumulated in storage rooms, including IV tubing that had expired months earlier. One resident's emergency nitroglycerin tablets had expired in May but remained in his room until inspectors discovered them.
The kitchen chaos extended beyond cold meals. Yellow squash with mold spots sat in refrigerators alongside frozen chicken thawing without required dates. Staff entered kitchens without hairnets, and meals sat unattended on counters for 47 minutes before being served to residents.
Resident #78, a vegetarian, showed inspectors a photograph of a meal served on July 6 that contained traces of pot roast mixed with potatoes and carrots. The resident called the mistake "very upsetting."
At resident council meetings, the complaints were consistent. In January, residents shared concerns about night CNAs leaving cottages for extended periods, making them unavailable to help. One resident said his call light wasn't being answered at night "due to caregivers not being available in the cottages" and felt "this is escalating and not being addressed."
The facility's own handbook promised residents "excellent care in a place that truly is a home" where "mealtime in the Cottage is a cherished time." Instead, residents found themselves eating cold food from styrofoam containers while waiting nearly an hour for basic assistance.
Federal inspectors concluded the facility failed to use its resources effectively and efficiently, placing all 93 residents at risk for physical and psychosocial harm. The administration was aware of the concerns but failed to identify or implement effective corrective measures, leading to what inspectors classified as actual harm to residents.
Resident #92 never did get his nicotine gum that day in July. After waiting 51 minutes, he wheeled himself outside to smoke, another small defeat in a system that had stopped working for the people it was supposed to serve.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Polaris Extended Care from 2024-07-19 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: Official federal inspection data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Editorial process: AI-synthesized regulatory data, reviewed for accuracy by our editorial team.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: June 20, 2026 · Our methodology
Polaris Extended Care in ANCHORAGE, AK was cited for violations during a health inspection on July 19, 2024.
Resident #92 pressed his call light at 11:49 AM asking for nicotine gum and waited 51 minutes before anyone came to help.
Health inspections identify deficiencies that facilities must correct. Violations range from minor documentation issues to serious safety concerns. Review the full report below for specific details and facility response.