History

On June 1, 1998, Tribal health in Alaska changed dramatically when the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) signed a contract to assume responsibility for the operations of the majority of the Indian Health Service Alaska Area office’s programs. After decades of fighting for self-governance, Alaska Native people now controlled our health care.

Today, ANTHC and the Alaska Tribal Health System provide the passion and dedication that make us the embodiment of health care self-determination for Alaska Native people.

ANTHC Highlights: 1997-2014

1997
Indian Health Service opens new Alaska Native Medical Center
ANTHC incorporates as a not-for-profit organization

1998
Contract with IHS transfers statewide services to ANTHC and expands to include Environmental Health and Engineering work

1999
ANTHC and Southcentral Foundation assume joint management of ANMC
ANMC earns certification as a Level II Trauma Center, a distinction it still holds today
AFHCAN telehealth project launches

2000
ANTHC completes an Alaska Native Health Campus site and facility plan outlining changes to accommodate growth

2001
ANTHC begins administering injury prevention projects with Tribes involving smoke detector installation, car seats and float coats.

2002
ANTHC begins training village-based Dental Health Aide Therapists
The Alaska Rural Utility Collaborative is created to improve water quality and lower energy costs

2003
ANMC achieves prestigious Magnet® status for nursing excellence, an honor bestowed to only seven percent of U.S. hospitals

2004
ANTHC opens its Consortium Office Building to expand health prevention services and health advocacy

2005
Community Health Services expands to include training program for 60 new Behavioral Health Aides

2006
Alaska Native immunization rates reach more than 90 percent statewide
ANTHC institutes tobacco-free campus policy

2007
ANTHC completes study that shows in-home water service reduces respiratory diseases and skin infections in children
ANTHC launches Healthy Alaska Natives Foundation

2008
ANTHC publishes the first edition of “Traditional Food Guide for Alaska Native Cancer Survivors”

2009
ANMC receives full re-accreditation from the Joint Commission
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds numerous water and sewer sanitation projects and health facilities upgrades across Alaska

2010
Vaccination program virtually eliminates hepatitis A infections around Alaska
ANTHC’s health advocacy works for successful passage of the Indian Health Care Improvement Reauthorization and Extension Act

2011
ANMC launches electronic health records system to improve patient care
AFHCAN program reaches 100,000 telehealth cases

2012
Healthy Communities Building opens
ANTHC and the Alaska Tribal Health System receive the American Hospital Association’s Carolyn Boone Lewis Living the Vision Award for work that goes beyond traditional hospital care

2013
Senate Bill 88 passes, authorizing funding to help ANTHC build a 202-room housing facility
Average colorectal cancer screening rate hits a new high of 58.5 percent, doubling the rate since 2000 for Alaska Native people

2014
ANMC hospital opens Alaska’s first hybrid operating room
ANTHC begins new drug treatments to cure hepatitis C