Denali Borough mayor files federal complaint over lost in-person care in Healy

Denali Borough Mayor Chris Noel told the Assembly Wednesday that last week he filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General over lost in-person care in Healy. The complaint concerns a federally qualified health center that used to have an office there. The Fairbanks-based Interior Community Health Center closed its Healy clinic in November 2025, according to Noel's written report.

Noel said he believes the center still claims borough zip codes, including Anderson, Healy and McKinley Village.

The center gets one lump-sum grant through the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, Noel said, and received the same amount in 2026 as in 2025. Its 2026 grant summary requested about $2.7 million in Health Center Program funds and says the center planned to provide care in Fairbanks and Healy, along with a mobile clinic van.

"If on the books it looks like we have an active healthcare center that's serving us, yeah, yeah, it's not, not an accurate picture, right?" Noel said.

He said some neighbors likely still travel to Fairbanks for care at the center, but residents have no in-person care in Healy. He said the borough waited months to act until it had hired its new rural health project coordinator, and the Assembly may later be asked to pass a resolution.

The Assembly also unanimously approved a resolution backing the borough's application for $100,000 from the federal Rural Health Transformation Program for an emergency medical services needs assessment and feasibility study. The grant requires no local match. Noel said the study would gather input from volunteer fire departments, Interior Region EMS and the state Office of EMS, weigh options and produce cost estimates and recommendations the borough can act on.

"I don't think the volunteer model that has carried us to today is going to carry us," Noel said.

He pointed to Cantwell, where longtime chiefs Marge and Dale Nord are trying to step away and the department needs volunteers and a new chief. He also pointed to Delta Junction, where he said a contract ambulance service "kind of collapsed."

In the program's first year, the Alaska Municipal League received notice of an intended award that includes a new ambulance for Cantwell and a medium rescue truck for the Tri-Valley Volunteer Fire Department. Noel has put their values at $337,000 and $698,000.