The one-mile road that once connected the village of Newtok to the Ninglik River is gone, washed away by storm-driven erosion. All that’s left of the road is a broken skeleton of its metal support beams and fading memories of village residents. “There used to be hills where I went sledding as a kid,” said Newtok resident Teddy Tom as he boated along the river bank where the road once sat. “From the other side, you couldn’t see the village ...

Last week, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price met with Tribal leaders from across the state, hosted by ANTHC. The visit marked Secretary Price’s first trip to Alaska and offered the opportunity to learn more about our Tribal health system, partnership with the Indian Health Service and health care challenges facing Alaska Native people. These vary throughout the state, but with every region represented, Secretary Price heard about the importance of federal funding for health care and aging ...

Chew on this: A new study released by the University of Washington shows that children in our Alaska Native communities who are served frequently by Dental Health Aide Therapists (ADTEPs) had lower rates of tooth extractions and more preventative care than residents in communities not receiving ADTEP services. ADTEPs provide culturally appropriate dental education and routine dental services in Alaska Native communities, usually their home village, within the scope of their training. Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium introduced the first ...

On July 28, ANTHC Pharmacy staff was recognized for its commitment to patient safety with a National Director’s award from the Indian Health Service (IHS). The National Director’s award of the IHS recognizes individuals or groups of employees whose special efforts and contributions, beyond regular duty requirements, have resulted in significant benefits to IHS programs, priorities, or customers and fulfillment of the IHS mission. “I couldn’t be prouder of the pharmacy staff at ANTHC and the wide array of services ...

ANMC’s Magnet nurses provide culturally appropriate, family-centered care in a unique hospital environment, and they are constantly seeking ways to improve the services and care we provide. In an effort to further recognize our nurses for their outstanding work, ANMC partnered with the DAISY Award, an international program that rewards and celebrates the extraordinary clinical skill and compassionate care given by nurses every day. Congratulations to ANMC DAISY Award recipient, Kim Tantanella, RN on ANMC’s fifth floor Medical-Surgical Unit. Tantanella ...

Residents of the Southwest Alaska community of Eek now have residential water service for the first time, thanks to a new community water distribution and low-pressure sewer collection system construction project by ANTHC with our community and funding partners. This project has developed over the last 12 years through many phases. Prior to the current project phase, a new sewer lagoon was built and a new water intake into the Eek River was installed. Previous additions also include a new ...

On the north bank of the Kuskokwim River, 401 miles from Anchorage, lies the community of Oscarville, Alaska. In December 2014, the Oscarville Traditional Council volunteered the village to serve as the pilot community for the implementation of a holistic approach project, with the goal of creating healthy, thriving and sustainable communities by bringing together important communal pieces, including culture, housing, energy, infrastructure, water/sewer, community health and economic development. Oscarville’s candidacy for the pilot project stemmed from the sanitation, environmental ...

During the week of June 26, the National Tribal Water Center (NTWC) partnered with the Northern Cheyenne Tribe to participate in Water Week as part of the Water is Life project. Through a collaboration with the Northern Cheyenne Department of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Chief Dull Knife College, and the Northern Cheyenne Utility Commission, the Water is Life project’s aim is to promote pride and ownership of the Tribal drinking water system and celebrate the Northern Cheyenne cultural values ...

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium staff with the Alaska Native Epidemiology Center recently visited our partners at SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) to provide evaluation technical assistance for SEARHC’s Methamphetamine and Suicide Prevention Initiative (MSPI) and Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative (DVPI) projects. ANTHC collaborations with our regional Tribal health partners help strengthen the Alaska Tribal Health System and provide opportunities for ANTHC staff to learn and share on a statewide basis. While in Sitka, ANTHC staff participated in an ...

Healthy eating is one of the building blocks for a healthy life, and learning new recipes is a great way to keep healthy eating fun and delicious. To help introduce fresh ways to learn new recipes to statewide communities, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium’s Health Promotion program was awarded a competitive grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for Food Distribution Program Nutrition Education in 2016. This funding allows grantees to provide nutrition education services to Food Distribution Program on ...