A $16 million award would restructure primary care across the Interior

Foundation Health Partners would receive $16 million to change how primary care works across the Interior, the largest single award in Alaska's Rural Health Transformation Program.

In practice that means care delivered by teams rather than by individual providers, built around technology, and structured so the money follows patient outcomes instead of the number of procedures performed. The award covers the Denali Borough, the Fairbanks North Star Borough, the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area and the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area. The state's list names the recipient by its legal name, Greater Fairbanks Community Hospital Foundation.

The program is moving fast and it is nearly spoken for. Alaska has announced $207 million across 217 projects out of a $272.2 million first-year award, about three-quarters of the total, and all of it must be spent by Sept. 30, 2027.

The awards range widely. The same round includes $6.5 million for robotic surgery at PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center.

How the decisions are being made has drawn questions. Emily Ricci told an advisory council she believes Alaska has one of the most transparent processes in the country for the program. Tari O'Connor asked how rural representation and geographic reach factor into which projects get funded.