Many of ANMC’s Magnet nurses go above and beyond in their nursing practices, serving as community nursing leaders in addition to their practice at ANMC. Among ANMC’s health care team, our nurses are viewed as respected partners, collaborators and leaders. Sadie Anderson, Nursing Director for ANMC’s Inpatient Surgery, Neurosurgery and Orthopedics units, recently presented at the National Alaska Native American Indian Nurses Association (NANAINA) Conference in St. Paul, Minnesota. NANAINA’s mission is to unite American Indian and Alaska Native nurses ...

ANTHC Environmental Health and Engineering employees James Temte and John Nichols were invited arts and culture delegates at the One Water Summit in Minnesota in July, where the two presented on the National Tribal Water Center (NTWC) housed at ANTHC. The summit, attended by more than 900 people from across the U.S., included utility personnel from major cities, federal government officials and Tribal organizations. It focused on finding solutions to make water and sewer service available, reliable and affordable in ...

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 winner, Joyce Martin, a SWAT RN in the Central Nursing Office ...

The Alaska Native Medical Center is constantly adding services and improving access to care for our people. ANMC now offers in-house hemodialysis to adult inpatients, a service previously only available to our adult patients in the Critical Care Unit (CCU). Hemodialysis for adult inpatients not admitted to the CCU is done in the Flex Unit. Patients come down for their treatments and then go back to their admitted rooms on floors four or five of the hospital. Previously, if an ...

In July, Harvard Honoring Nations committee members conducted a daylong site visit of ANTHC’s three health aide training programs, collaboratively known as the Tribal Community Health Provider Programs. Following the site visit, ANTHC has been named a finalist for the 2018 Honoring Nations award. According to The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, “Honoring Nations identifies, celebrates and shares excellence in American Indian tribal governance. At the heart of Honoring Nations are the principles that tribes themselves hold the ...

Many of us know or have heard a story about the impacts that non-immunized Alaskans, specifically children, have on others. National Immunization Awareness Month is an annual observance held to provide information on the benefits of immunization and the risks of foregoing important recommended immunizations. The State Health Improvement Plan, Healthy Alaskans 2020, works with local and statewide partners to raise awareness about the importance of immunization as an effective means of infectious disease prevention across the state. The associated ...

Alaskan plants as food and medicine – Benefits of the fall harvestAlaska Native people have lived in harmony with living things for thousands of years, including our traditional plants. This is the time of the year when our many varieties of berries become ready to pick. Berries and plants harvested in the fall provide an abundance of high-quality nutrients. “Our Alaskan berries are full of fiber and antioxidants like Vitamin C, that help keep our bodies healthy,” Marcia Anderson, ANTHC ...

Patient Housing at ANMC has been open for a year and a half now, and our people are enjoying the additional accommodations on campus. Guest satisfaction for Patient Housing remains extremely positive, with our overall customer satisfaction at 89 percent based on surveys returned by our guests in June 2018. “We constantly receive positive feedback from our guests staying at Patient Housing at ANMC,” said Athena Midvag, General Manager for Patient Housing at ANMC. “Our guests love being connected to ...

ANMC Pharmacy and the Aurora Borealis Branch of Commissioned Officers Association partnered to join Project HOPE (Harm reduction, Overdose Prevention and Education) to help advance the Surgeon General’s initiative to equip individuals with the potentially lifesaving medication, naloxone. On July 12, 43 U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Officers gathered to make 273 Project HOPE overdose response kits. According to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) website, too much of an opioid can affect parts of the ...

Behavioral Health Aides/Practitioners (BHA/Ps) provide critical and ongoing services across Alaska, often with limited on-site resources or support. To help BHA/Ps provide behavioral health services in their uniquely Alaskan context, the Behavioral Health Aide Manual (BHAM) is now available electronically. The BHAM provides fundamental information and best practices for addressing many of the issues and concerns identified during client care visits. It is also intended as a guide for other providers who work with BHA/Ps; it will help providers to ...