Alaska Native Medical Center gets $1.5 million federal grant for two new operating rooms

Surgeons at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage will gain two more operating rooms, which the consortium estimates will add capacity for about 1,560 surgical procedures a year at the statewide tribal referral hospital. A $1.5 million federal grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration will pay for them, according to the award record. The record lists it under the agency's congressional directives program, meaning Congress designated the money for this project rather than the agency choosing it in a competition. The medical center provides specialty and advanced medical care to Alaska Native and American Indian people from across the state, according to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.

The rooms will not be a new wing. Crews will reconfigure roughly 1,360 square feet of existing hospital space.

"We serve people from across Alaska and 60% of ANMC's patients travel from outside the Anchorage area for care," the consortium said in its description of the medical center.

The federal award record lists the grant, CE160026, as awarded to the consortium. It runs from Sept. 30, 2026, through Sept. 29, 2029. The record gives only the total. It shows no yearly breakdown and no matching funds. It does not say when either room will open.

The population ANMC serves rose from about 105,000 when the hospital opened in 1997 to more than 189,000 today, the consortium's project description in the award record says. It cites longer life expectancy and higher rates of chronic and complex health conditions. It says the new rooms will reduce wait times and improve access to surgical care.

In 2003, ANMC reported 10,595 surgical procedures. A 2020 consortium guide to services listed 10 operating rooms and one hybrid operating room at ANMC. A 2024 ANMC fact sheet reported 19,603 surgical cases, nearly double the 2003 total.

The Indian Health Service transferred ownership of the hospital to the consortium on Aug. 24. The consortium board had already approved a $462 million investment to expand the hospital before that transfer took effect. The operating rooms fold into ANMC's ongoing critical care and emergency services expansion.