Every baby born in Alaska undergoes a series of tests just before they leave the hospital to go home. A small blood sample is collected from the baby’s heel and sent to a laboratory for testing that targets about 50 conditions. These routine tests are done to identify any possible disorders in the baby’s body chemistry. In July, the State of Alaska launched a new DNA test to better identify babies born with a gene variant known as CPT1A Arctic ...
The ANTHC Tobacco Prevention Program is working with our Tribal health partners to offer online tobacco treatment specialist (TTS) training. Three participants from each Tribal health region are invited to take the online course beginning January 11 and ending March 22. The Tobacco Prevention Program first tested the training this spring on the Alaska Native Health Campus with ANMC providers and other partners. This second pilot course will help inform course improvements before going live for other participants later in ...
Building Better Health – ANTHC Annual Meeting
Alaska Native leaders, Tribal partners and community members from across the state joined ANTHC’s Board of Directors and executive staff for the Consortium’s Annual Meeting on Monday at the Dena’ina Civic Center in Anchorage. The Annual Meeting is an exciting event that allows us to discuss our accomplishments and challenges in the last year, while also getting a chance to connect and communicate face to face with our people. Improving access to health services for our people when and where ...
Effectively sharing health information is a key component of positive health outcomes and patient safety. Health literacy is one of the seven focus areas of the Wellness Strategies for Health initiative, a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to promote health and wellness for Alaska Native and American Indian people. Through the grant, Alaska Native Epidemiology Center staff collaborated with ANTHC Human Resources to create the “Always Use Teach-back!” interactive learning module to the ANTHC HealthStream Learning ...
ANMC opens discharge lounge in Quyana House
ANMC opened a discharge lounge in the Quyana House last week. The new discharge lounge has been designed to improve efficiency with hospital flow while providing a comfortable place for our patients to relax while waiting for transportation back home. The lounge is available for patients 18 years or older being discharged from ANMC and waiting for a ride or travel papers. Our patient’s escort is also welcome to wait in the lounge with them. The newly remodeled lounge is ...
The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) identified a cluster of invasive Group A Streptococcus infections caused by a new strain (emm-type, emm-26) and released an Alaska Public Health Advisory notice. This strain was recently described in several media stories and has led to 4 deaths in Fairbanks and Anchorage. A predominant number of these cases have affected the local Anchorage homeless population. Group A Streptococcus (Strep) may cause a wide range of illness, including colonization without illness, ...
Each year, the March of Dimes (MOD) Alaska Chapter honors Alaska’s exemplary registered nurses whose leadership and contributions make a significant impact in their community and in the profession of nursing by giving Nurse of the Year Awards. ANTHC leadership is proud to announce that Elizabeth “Dawn” Geest, RN Case Manager in the ANMC Maternal Fetal Medicine Clinic, earned Nurse of the Year honors in the category of Case Management/Care Coordination, recognized as a nurse who uses a collaborative process ...
ANTHC staff start work to help relocate Newtok
As climate change threatens many locations in Alaska, the village of Newtok in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region prepares to relocate their village to a new site, Mertarvik, which will be protected from erosion and thawing permafrost. ANTHC Survey and Engineering crews recently conducted a site visit to the Mertarvik site to collect topographical survey data for the development of the new community. The team worked through challenging weather conditions and off-grid lodging with limited to no power, heating, and water and ...
Tobacco and drug use among Alaska Native people have been on the decline for many years, but there continue to be challenges to motivate people to quit and remain nonusers. To promote a unified message that celebrates the healthy choices that our people make every day, ANTHC recently launched the “We Are” media campaign, targeting Alaska Native and Native American people aged 11 to 25. The campaign is based on social norms theory, which shows much of people’s behavior is ...
November is American Diabetes Month
Each November, the American Diabetes Association observes American Diabetes Month as an opportunity to bring attention to the disease and its impact on millions of Americans. Diabetes affects the health of our Alaska Native people at a greater rate than the general population. The ANTHC Diabetes program works to reduce the instances of diabetes and health complications from the disease among Alaska Native people. Diabetes program staff are a multidisciplinary team of diabetes experts who work in partnership with the ...