Health
RSSAlaska News covers health policy, public health trends, and healthcare system developments affecting Alaska communities and residents.
Norton Sound Health Corporation gets $250,000 federal grant for produce prescription program
A $250,000 Indian Health Service grant will help Norton Sound Health Corporation give food-insecure households monthly produce vouchers or shipments.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6h ago2 min read
Fairbanks Memorial gets $3 million toward first inpatient psychiatric unit for teens in Interior Alaska
Interior Alaska teens who need inpatient psychiatric care must leave the region. A $3 million federal grant will help Fairbanks Memorial build a four-bed unit.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6h ago2 min read
Fairbanks residential mental health center to add six rooms with $1.95 million federal grant
A Fairbanks residential mental health center will add six private rooms, a kitchen and gathering space with a $1.95 million earmark requested by Murkowski.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6h ago2 min read
Seward hospital's new rural health grants collide with a shortage of space
Seward hospital won a $1.1 million federal grant to add prenatal care locally but has no space, forcing a choice between a $250,000 office conversion or a $4 million to $6 million addition
by Melinda Communities.News9h ago3 min read
Alaska prisons seek contractor for mental health care, with video visits allowed in Nome, Bethel and Ketchikan
Alaska's prisons want a contractor for mental health care at four facilities. In Nome, Bethel and Ketchikan, clinicians might visit in person only monthly.
by Walter AlaskaNews13h ago2 min read
Petersburg hospital CEO and board member differ on how federal budget law will affect Medicaid
Petersburg's hospital CEO told his board the federal budget law mostly adds paperwork for the state. A board member called it major Medicaid cuts.
by Walter AlaskaNews15h ago2 min read
FCC reconsiders how it sets rural clinic telecom subsidies, 97% of which go to Alaska
Alaska gets 97% of a federal subsidy that helps rural clinics pay for connectivity, and the FCC wants to rethink how it's calculated. Comments due Wednesday.
by Walter AlaskaNews18h ago3 min read
State lifts Kaktovik do-not-drink water order
Kaktovik residents can drink their tap water again. The state lifted its do-not-drink order Saturday after three weeks of antifreeze-chemical contamination.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1d ago2 min read
Bethel police warn residents not to shoot suspected rabid animals in the head
Bethel police warn residents to avoid shooting suspected rabid animals in the head, since brain tissue is needed to confirm the disease. Two foxes in Bethel tested positive for rabies in February.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2d ago1 min read
YKHC names interim chief Patricia Smith as permanent president and CEO
Patricia Smith, YKHC's interim chief since April and a nearly 30-year employee, is now the Bethel tribal health corporation's permanent CEO.
by Walter AlaskaNews2d ago2 min read
Summit on Aging attendees can book one-on-one time with state health leaders
Going to next month's Summit on Aging? You can book 15 minutes with state health leaders. Alaskans 65 and older get in free, but everyone has to register.
by Walter AlaskaNews3d ago1 min read
Mat-Su Regional gets $5 million in federal rural health money for a neonatal intensive care unit
Mat-Su Regional Medical Center gets $5 million in federal rural health money for a neonatal intensive care unit meant to keep more newborns out of Anchorage.
by Melinda Communities.News3d ago2 min read
FDA to pay Alaska $540,768 for state food safety inspections
The FDA will pay Alaska's food inspectors $540,768 for another year of checking restaurants and fish plants, the same week Murkowski asked it to keep doing so.
by Walter AlaskaNews3d ago1 min read
Kotzebue water system exceeds federal lead action level after two of 10 homes test high
Two of 10 Kotzebue homes tested above the federal lead action level. The city is testing more homes and says to run taps until cold before drinking.
by Alaska News4d ago2 min read
Federal report puts Alaska's maternal death rate above the national rate but warns the count is small
Alaska's maternal death rate ran above the national rate in a new federal report, but it rests on 17 deaths and the report itself says to read it with caution.
by Walter AlaskaNews4d ago2 min read
Alaska health officials warn concentrated kratom products can cause overdoses drug tests miss
Kratom gummies and shots can cause opioid-like overdoses that drug tests miss. Alaska ER visits tied to kratom already top last year's total.
by Walter AlaskaNews4d ago2 min read
Alaska has five weeks to commit $33 million in federal rural health money
Alaska has about $33 million in federal rural health money left to hand out, and five weeks to do it. There are no extensions, the feds say.
by Walter AlaskaNews5d ago2 min read
Alaska will score rural health grant applications on cost-effectiveness
Alaska will score rural health grant applications on cost for the first time, and will post the final rules halfway through the window to apply.
by Walter AlaskaNews5d ago2 min read
Alaska will not release statewide 2025 youth health survey results
Alaska is not releasing statewide youth health data for 2025. Only 29 percent of students answered, and the state says the numbers do not hold up.
by Walter AlaskaNews5d ago2 min read
Alaska recorded 22 COVID-19 deaths last season, including one child
Twenty-two Alaskans died with COVID-19 listed on the death certificate last season. One was a child. The summary says nothing more about that.
by Walter AlaskaNews5d ago2 min read
Tlingit & Haida wins $1.57M to train Southeast Alaska overdose responders
Tlingit & Haida will spend $1.57 million over four years training responders and keeping naloxone stocked across Southeast Alaska communities.
by Maggie AlaskaNews5d ago2 min read
Federal grant funds eating disorder training for 30 tribal health providers in Alaska
Alaska has no dedicated eating disorder care for an estimated 65,000 people. A federal grant will train 30 tribal providers to help them out.
by Maggie AlaskaNews5d ago1 min read
Murkowski's bill would extend a rural maternity program Alaska never used
Alaska has never won a grant from the rural maternity program Murkowski's new bill would keep funded. The same bill has died three times before.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago2 min read
Copper River responders will learn to start addiction treatment in the field
One paid ambulance crew and 20 volunteers cover an area bigger than West Virginia. A $300,000 grant will train them to reverse overdoses in the field.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6d ago1 min read
Juneau's JAMHI clinic gets $938,000 in congressionally directed funds to replace failing HVAC
Juneau has no road out. The clinic holding its primary care and behavioral health is getting federal money for failing HVAC and fire suppression.
by Melinda Communities.News6d ago2 min read
Alaska Native tribes begin five-year youth suicide prevention programs
Ten Alaska Native tribes and health organizations begin five-year youth suicide prevention programs next week, sharing about $4.1 million in federal money.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6d ago2 min read
Kodiak's health center is getting its own heating unit, off the hospital's
Kodiak's community health center shares aging air handling with the hospital next door. A $300,000 earmark buys it a rooftop unit of its own.
by Melinda Communities.News6d ago1 min read
Alaska sets October-to-May RSV window; Native toddlers again qualify for a second dose
More Alaska babies now qualify for a second RSV shot, including those born preterm or with Down syndrome. Parents may need to ask for it directly.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Visiting dentist to hold five-day clinic in Nondalton
A dentist comes to Nondalton for five days starting Monday, one of the periodic visits that fill in for a permanent practice around Iliamna Lake.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Alaska rural health notices pass $239 million with $30 million round
Alaska sent out $30 million more in rural health awards this week, funding a Girdwood telepharmacy, a Norton Sound scheduling hub and rural X-ray machines.
by Melinda Communities.News1w ago1 min read
Summit on Aging offers 15-minute one-on-one slots with Alaska health leaders
Alaska's aging summit runs Oct. 15 to 17 in Anchorage, and you can book 15 minutes to tell state health leadership exactly what you think.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Alaska urges flu shots now as influenza activity climbs
Flu is climbing in Alaska, where 36 people died last season and adults get vaccinated at less than half the national rate. Now is the window.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Alaska reports 36 flu deaths in 2025-26 season, most in four years
Thirty-six Alaskans died of flu-related illness this season, the worst in four years. The vaccine didn't match the strains that circulated here.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Alaska ended childhood liver cancer, and Washington noticed
Alaska Native children once had the world's highest rate of liver cancer. A newborn vaccine ended it, and Washington is now citing that as the model.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Anchorage adds behavioral health care to its WIC program
Anchorage will place a behavioral health provider in its WIC program after a survey found many low-income mothers reporting anxiety, depression and hunger.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Three Southcentral villages get visiting primary care this week
A doctor is in Chenega Bay through Monday, in Nanwalek through Friday. Tyonek got one day, and sees a primary care provider every two months.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Juneau's city-owned ski area has carried EPA's most urgent water violation for six months
Juneau's city-owned Eaglecrest Ski Area has carried the EPA's most urgent drinking water violation for six months, with no record of it being resolved.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Alaska proposes to drop its $190.50 newborn screening fee and set the charge by a formula
Alaska proposes calculating newborn screening fees by formula instead of a fixed charge, with written comments due by November 2.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Alaska has $272 million to change rural health care. The requests reached $2.5 billion.
Alaska has 217 preliminary rural health awards worth about $209 million — enough to replace equipment and add services, but not to replace Medicaid coverage.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago4 min read
Alaska proposes a new payment formula for its 24-hour behavioral health clinics
Alaska wants to change how it pays two clinics providing 24-hour behavioral health care, setting rates in advance. Public comment is open through Oct. 30.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
