Southcentral Foundation sends a doctor to Nelson Lagoon and a dentist to St. Paul

Southcentral Foundation providers are holding clinics this week in Nelson Lagoon and on St. Paul Island, according to the foundation's event listings. Dr. Ryan McWilliams is in Nelson Lagoon from Oct. 5 through Oct. 7, and dentist Dr. Richard Rodriguez opened a dental clinic on St. Paul Island on Sunday that runs through Oct. 15. The listings say the clinics run all day but don't name specific services or explain how to get an appointment.

St. Paul has about 500 residents, rising to about 700 during the summer halibut season, according to a Premera rural health initiative profile. The foundation's listings also show other clinics, including primary care at Cold Bay and False Pass and dental care at Nondalton.

Visiting providers don't replace the care that stays in the village. The Community Health Aide Program has about 550 aides in more than 170 rural villages who provide emergency, acute and chronic care. The Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association says oral health in its communities comes mainly through a partnership with Southcentral Foundation, which receives Indian Health Service funding for that work.

Southcentral Foundation was established in 1982 under the tribal authority of Cook Inlet Region Inc. and now serves about 65,000 Alaska Native and Indigenous people across Anchorage, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and 55 rural villages.

The foundation sent similar clinics to other villages last month, including Tyonek, Tatitlek and Nanwalek on Sept. 14. Tyonek has no resident doctor and sees a primary care provider only once every two months.