Southcentral Foundation hosts public open house at Anchorage clinic

Southcentral Foundation opened its Traditional Healing Clinic in Anchorage to the general public Monday afternoon, offering fresh fried bread, a traditional blessing and drumming to anyone who wanted to attend, not just SCF's Alaska Native and American Indian customer-owners. The event listing said no registration was required. The open access applied only to this one-time open house, not to the clinic's regular operations.

The open house was held at 4320 Diplomacy Drive, Suite 1010, and included a prize drawing and a preview of the clinic's upcoming traditional healing cultural classes.

SCF held a second event the same afternoon in Wasilla. Culture Connects, at the Benteh Nuutah Primary Care Center, 1001 S. Knik-Goose Bay Road, offered cultural activities, traditional foods and, in the listing's words, fun for the whole family. "Join Southcentral Foundation for Culture Connects, a celebration of Alaska Native traditions, wellness, and community," the event listing said. Both events were free and open to the public.

The Traditional Healing Clinic blends practices such as prayer, cleansing, counseling and talking circles with the Western medicine delivered at the Alaska Native Medical Center. Patients can request the traditional healing services or be referred to them. The clinic received the Indian Health Service Director's Special Recognition Award in June 2011, and SCF won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award that November.

The two events reflect a broader pattern among Alaska tribal health organizations, which increasingly pair culturally grounded programming with clinical care to support community wellness, prevention and identity. For Alaska Native and American Indian patients and other community members, that can mean care settings that include traditional foods, drumming and blessings alongside health programming, plus family-friendly events open to people who aren't enrolled patients.

Alaska News has previously covered SCF's cultural classes and its July Traditional Foods Gathering. Readers can reach the clinic for more information at 907-729-4958.