Health care technology management (HTM) professionals are vital members of any world-class health care delivery team. At the Alaska Native Medical Center, clinical engineers, biomedical equipment technicians, and other highly skilled professionals use their expertise to ensure the safety, efficacy, and availability of life-saving health care technologies for our Alaska Native people, all while keeping health care costs down. This year, Healthcare Technology Management Week is May 19-25. The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation states: “This annual celebration ...
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America recognizes May as National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month. Spring is a peak season for people affected by asthma and allergies. ANTHC’s Air and Health Homes Program wants Alaska Native people to recognize potential in-home irritants that can trigger asthma and allergies. Download a PDF with tips on asthma irritants to avoid here. Asthma is a chronic disease that causes irritation and swelling of the airways, impacting the lungs and breathing. Asthma can ...
Clockwise from left to right: Joyce Martin, Matthew Brown, Mary Krusen and Meg Mapili. ANMC’s nurses display their commitment and excellence through professional development and evidence-based practice when caring for our people. In addition to their work and education, many of ANMC’s nurses participate in shared governance, on councils that consult and collaborate with each other to make the best decisions to successfully facilitate and ensure quality patient care and outcomes. In May, ANMC celebrates and thanks our nurses during ...
This story appeared in the April – June 2019 edition of the Mukluk Telegraph. Read more stories from the latest issue here. This May, the 12th annual Youth Environmental Summit (YES) will convene in Kluti-Kaah, Alaska. YES is a day camp held in the Copper River region for youth in kindergarten to eighth grade, where participants learn about climate change, the environmental history of the area, and the importance of environmental stewardship. Gakona Village Council started the Summit in 2008 ...
When Eek Elder, Elias Keyes, turned on his new faucet for the first time and watched the water flow down his sink, he saw his relative’s prophetic words come to life. “My grandfather used to say a time would come when we could push a button and everything would happen. Now, I see that it is,” Keyes said. “When I’m gone, I won’t have to worry about my grandchildren having safe water.” In March, workers on the project to bring ...
One of ANTHC’s top priorities is increasing access to care for our people. As more than 60% of our patients travel from outside the Anchorage area for care, increased patient access also means increased demand for travel and housing services. ANTHC is working on key initiatives around travel management and housing. These are important to ANTHC’s strategic goals to increase coordination and access to care within the Tribal health system. ANTHC’s Travel Management Office (TMO) was established in July 2016 ...
When the call for nominations came out for IHS Technician of the Year, a large number of employees at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC), thought of the same person at the same time: Jolene “JoJo” Chikigak. Chikigak is a certified pharmacy technician and currently serves as the Pharmacy Compliance Technician for Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC), the largest IHS hospital in the nation. She is the first technician to fulfill this new role for the organization, and she ...
As ANTHC’s latest sanitation project in Angoon nears completion, critical infrastructure upgrades are beginning to improve quality of life for the whole community. Angoon’s new, custom-built septic tank and outfall pipe are up and running, diverting waste from sensitive areas previously impacted by deficiencies in the old system. Mabel Jack, a community Elder whose yard had suffered wastewater discharges for years, enjoys a clean property. Area birds that formerly fed in contaminated areas are no longer enticed by wastewater spills. ...
For the 12th straight year, the Raven’s Ball, the Healthy Alaska Natives Foundation’s signature event, continued its tradition of distinguished and compelling fundraising. The black-tie gala raised an estimated $448,000 in sponsorships and cash contributions which will go toward improving the unmet health needs of Alaska Native people and the Alaska Tribal Health System. A sellout crowd attended the event at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage on March 23. Each spring, the Raven’s Ball raises awareness and funding to ...
ANTHC partnerships with the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and the City of Saxman have led to the completion of a new wastewater collection system that replaces aging infrastructure in the community. ANTHC partnered with the borough and city to lead the construction effort, which included replacing three existing ocean outfalls, construction of three community sewer lift stations and 16 manholes, and installation of approximately 5,200 feet of buried sewer mains. The added infrastructure in Saxman enables sections of the Ketchikan Gateway ...