Chevak is a growing community of 1,200 people located along the west coast of Alaska, and has been a valued member of ANTHC’s Alaska Rural Utilities Collaborative (ARUC) program since its inception in 2008. Since 2013, Chevak utility customers have seen a 50 percent decrease in their water and wastewater utility fees. Due to the community’s continued growth, a new position was recently added to the water utility team to sustain the cost savings for the whole community. In May ...

A team of ANTHC staff recently visited the southwest Alaska village of Newtok, which is in the process of moving nine miles downriver to Nelson Island and a new village site, Mertarvik. The move will help ensure the sustainability and safety of the community, which currently faces frequent storm-driven erosion. Staff from various departments completed a multipurpose site visit, serving ANTHC’s commitment to a holistic approach to community planning, infrastructure design and providing health services to the people of Newtok. ...

ANTHC’s partnership with Maniilaq Association to convert Kotzebue’s Maniilaq Health Center to a renewable energy system earned a Green Champion Award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The awards honor HHS employees and Alaska Native and Native American Tribal members involved in outstanding sustainability projects and demonstrate measurable results in sustainability practices. Environmental sustainability is an important part of the work in the Alaska Tribal Health System. A healthy environment is the basis for the health ...

Thomas Norris, ANTHC Apprentice Electrician, recently passed the State of Alaska Certificate of Fitness Exam for Electrical Journeyman, making him the first graduate of the ANTHC Environmental Health and Engineering Apprenticeship Program. This program was developed in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship and Alaska Vocational Technical Related Studies Program. The four-year program requires 8,000 hours of on-the-job learning, in addition to many required hours of instruction. During his time as an apprentice, Norris worked on ...

If you live in rural Alaska and you need medical attention, you go to the clinic and see a community health aide. But if your local environment needs attention, you will want to see a local environmental professional. Across our state, you can find them working in Tribal and city government offices, identified by a variety of titles: environment manager, water plant or solid waste operator, IGAP or Brownfields coordinator. Although they have different titles and different jobs, they all ...

Each spring as part of the ramp-up to construction season around Alaska, ANTHC’s Environmental Health and Engineering leaders host an annual safety conference for construction staff. Along with honing safety knowledge and skills, ANTHC construction personnel share institutional knowledge and recognize staff achievements in projects to serve our rural community partners. The conference was held the week of March 27. Forty-five superintendents, tradesmen, construction managers and project managers were in attendance on any given day during the week. Most of ...