Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

OVERVIEW About Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium is a non-profit Tribal health organization designed to meet the unique health needs of Alaska Native and American Indian people living in Alaska. In partnership with the more than 166,000 Alaska Native and American Indian people that we serve and the Tribal health organizations of the Alaska Tribal Health System, ANTHC provides world-class health services, which include comprehensive medical services at the Alaska Native Medical Center, wellness programs, disease research and prevention, rural provider training and rural water and sanitation systems construction. ANTHC is the largest, most comprehensive Tribal health organization in the United States, and Alaska’s second-largest health employer with more than 2,800 employees offering an array of health services to people around the nation’s largest state. 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, a designation it still holds today 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 VISION Alaska Native people are the healthiest people in the world MISSION Providing the highest quality health services in partnership with our people and the Alaska Tribal Health System VALUES Achieving excellence Native self-determination Treat with respect and integrity Health and wellness Compassion