Federal grant will add two operating rooms at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage

A $1.5 million federal grant will pay for two more operating rooms at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage, which the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium estimates will add capacity for about 1,560 surgical procedures a year at the statewide tribal referral hospital.

The award record lists the Health Resources and Services Administration grant under the agency's congressional directives program, meaning Congress designated the money for this project rather than the agency choosing it in a competition. Sen. Lisa Murkowski requested the money. She had asked for $3 million; the fiscal 2026 spending law signed Feb. 3 included $1.5 million and describes the project as renovating and upgrading operating room recovery space and perioperative bays. Murkowski has also requested $1 million for fiscal 2027 for construction of operating rooms at the consortium in Anchorage.

The project reconfigures roughly 1,360 square feet of existing hospital space.

The medical center provides specialty and advanced medical care to Alaska Native and American Indian people from across the state, according to the consortium. "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 grant, CE160026, runs from Sept. 30, 2026, through Sept. 29, 2029. The award record does not say when the rooms 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, and says the new rooms will reduce wait times and improve access to surgical care.

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.

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 are part of ANMC's ongoing critical care and emergency services expansion.