Health
RSSAlaska News covers health policy, public health trends, and healthcare system developments affecting Alaska communities and residents.
Tanana has a health center again, 44 years after its hospital closed
Forty-four years after its hospital closed, Tanana has a new health center with a lab, pharmacy, radiology and a two-bay morgue, in a village of about 230.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago2 min read
Alaska's only blood bank is critically short of O and AB blood; six centers are taking donors
Blood Bank of Alaska needs O and AB blood types urgently, with only 2 percent of Alaskans donating annually despite serving 21 hospitals statewide.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
Unalaska is paying $800,000 to keep its emergency room open around the clock
Unalaska City Council adopted new grant guidelines on Aug. 25, but the exact changes remain unclear because city records do not include the full resolution text.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago1 min read
A statewide suicide prevention activity is open to any Alaska resident through Sept. 10
ANTHC is running a free statewide suicide prevention activity through Sept. 10 with an online scavenger hunt, candle lighting, and a survey with Amazon gift card drawings open to all Alaska residents.
by Alaska News3w ago2 min read
Four groups keep full Medicaid after Oct. 1. Refugees and asylees are not among them.
Alaska is moving to cut full Medicaid coverage for refugees, asylees and trafficking victims starting Oct. 1 when federal funding for noncitizens ends, leaving them with emergency-only coverage.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Alaska seniors get free Summit on Aging seats, but must register in advance
Seniors 65+ and Alaskans with intellectual or developmental disabilities get free registration at the Oct. 15-17 Statewide Summit on Aging in Anchorage if they sign up in advance.
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago1 min read
Alaska's youth suicide rate reached a 10-year high in 2025, state data show
Alaska's youth suicide rate reached a 10-year high in 2025. The Anchorage Assembly takes up a resolution Tuesday marking Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago1 min read
Juneau's city-owned ski area has an unresolved drinking water violation
EPA records show a March drinking water violation at Eaglecrest Ski Area in Juneau, in the agency's most urgent category, with no resolution recorded.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
A health center's request to Unalaska grew nearly six-fold in a year
A health center's grant request to Unalaska grew from $180,000 to more than $1 million in a year, pushing the city's grant program past its own guideline.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
$5.5 million for Anchorage public health nurses, WIC and child care inspectors
The Anchorage Assembly takes up $5.5 million in state grants Tuesday for public health nurses, WIC clinics and child care inspections, without a hearing.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Petersburg hospital gets preliminary nod for behavioral health grant
Petersburg Medical Center has preliminary approval for about $400,000 in behavioral health money, but cannot hire or buy anything until the state signs off.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
A course that usually means flying to the East Coast is coming to Anchorage
A hospital cleaning certification course usually held on the East Coast is coming to Anchorage in September, if 20 people sign up by Sept. 4.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Alaska seeks groups to run perinatal substance use treatment program
Alaska is seeking groups to run its perinatal substance use treatment program. In 2022, only about 10% of pregnant Alaskans who needed such care got it.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Alaska adds $16.8 million in rural health awards without naming who gets the money
Alaska asked for $2.5 billion in rural health money and got $272 million. The state has now spoken for $182 million of it, without naming Friday's winners.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Alaska Mental Health Trust opens $636,523 for equipment at agencies serving beneficiaries
Alaska agencies serving Trust beneficiaries have until Sept. 9 to apply for equipment funding. The $636,523 pool caps each award at $30,000.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
New Alaska Medicaid work rules start in January 2027 — with broad exemptions
Starting January 2027, some Alaska Medicaid recipients 19 to 64 must work, study, train or volunteer 80 hours a month to keep coverage, though many are exempt.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Rural health transformation program set as keynote topic at Anchorage disability employment conference
Alaska's $272 million Rural Health Transformation Program will be the keynote topic at the Oct. 12-13 Employment First Conference in Anchorage, drawing employers and disability employment providers.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Meta settlement would cap teen social media at two hours a day, bringing Alaska millions
A proposed settlement with Meta would cap teen time on Instagram and Facebook at two hours a day and bring Alaska millions of dollars.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
YMCA child weight program starts Sept. 8; a parent must attend all 25 sessions
An Anchorage YMCA program requires a parent at all 25 sessions, and the last half hour each night is the children teaching back what they learned.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
A state grant would keep TB screening running at Anchorage homeless shelters
A $2.77 million grant before the Anchorage Assembly would keep public health nurses screening for TB at shelters — the clearance many people need to get in.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
The Anchorage Assembly recognized September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month
The Anchorage Assembly recognized September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. The region including Anchorage has Alaska's highest number of suicide deaths.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago1 min read
Anchorage set to get $3 million to expand its crisis-response system
Anchorage is set to get about $3 million to expand its mental-health and addiction crisis teams, add assisted-living beds and start mobile opioid treatment.
by Alaska News1mo ago1 min read
Alaska Native youth die by suicide at five times the rate of White youth
Alaska Native youth died by suicide at more than five times the rate of White youth from 2016 to 2024, the state reported. The gap in attempts is wider.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Tlingit & Haida back a Ketchikan plan to treat addiction closer to home
The Tlingit & Haida tribe backs a Ketchikan plan for a residential addiction treatment center so Southeast Alaskans no longer have to leave the region for care.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Volunteers will build naloxone kits in Anchorage on Overdose Awareness Day
Volunteers will build naloxone kits in Anchorage on Aug. 31. Alaska recorded 238 opioid overdose deaths last year, down from 276 the year before.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Southcentral Foundation asks Congress to make IHS contract support costs mandatory
Southcentral Foundation asked Congress to move Indian Health Service contract support costs into mandatory spending to shield rural Alaska clinics from federal budget cuts.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
An Alaska water system logged the EPA's most urgent violation
A water system serving 771 Alaskans logged the EPA's most urgent drinking-water violation in March. The federal record doesn't say which community it serves.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Three remote Aleutian villages are getting traveling dental and medical clinics this month
Sand Point, Akutan and Atka are getting short-term traveling dental and medical clinics this month, in Aleutian villages 570 miles from the nearest hospital.
by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago1 min read
Alaska plans nearly $126 million for rural health projects, its biggest round yet
Alaska plans nearly $126 million for 105 rural health projects — its biggest round yet, though requests topped $2.5 billion for the money available.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Tanana Chiefs wins federal grant for suicide prevention in 15 villages
Of 122 youth referred to Tanana Chiefs behavioral health last year, 76 were admitted. A new federal grant funds suicide prevention in 15 Interior villages.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Most of Alaska's 2030 health goals are off track, new assessment finds
Most of Alaska's 2030 health goals are off track, according to a new state assessment. Alcohol-induced mortality was one of the few to meet its target.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Only 1 in 10 pregnant Alaskans who needed substance-use treatment in 2022 got it
Only about 1 in 10 pregnant Alaskans who needed substance-use treatment in 2022 got it, and the state is seeking to fund programs to help close the gap.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
In five remote Chugach villages, health aides work without an X-ray, and new funding aims to change that
In five remote Chugach-region villages, health aides assess injuries without an X-ray. New funding through a tribal health organization aims to finally put imaging in their clinics.
by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min read
Bethel health fair screens 48 for diabetes and promotes same-day services
Forty-eight people got diabetes screening at a three-hour Bethel health fair aimed at showing what YKHC can offer the same day a patient walks in.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago1 min read
A Kodiak Native corporation's federal-contracting arm wins medical-billing work in Oklahoma
A subsidiary of Kodiak's Koniag corporation won a $1.26 million federal contract for medical-billing work in Oklahoma — the kind of business that funds dividends and scholarships for 4,300 Alutiiq shareholders.
by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min read
Alaska issues intent to award $30 million to 37 rural health projects
Alaska issued notices of intent Friday to award $30 million to 37 rural health projects, with recipients required to spend funds by June 30, 2027.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Most of Alaska's $272M rural health award remains unawarded
Alaska won a $272.2 million federal health award and nearly 1,800 applied, but most is still unawarded — and unspent funds risk being clawed back.
by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min read
UAA students to train inside ANTHC facilities under new workforce partnership
UAA students will train at Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium facilities under a new partnership, routing graduates toward one of Alaska's largest employers.
by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min read
Federal funds for gender-transition care for Alaska minors on Medicaid end in October
A federal rule ends Medicaid matching funds for Alaska minors' gender-transition care Oct. 13. It's not a ban; whether the state keeps covering it is unknown.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Medicare claws back money from Petersburg's hospital as the island's new MRI takes off
Medicare cut Petersburg's hospital outpatient rate and clawed back funds — but the island's brand-new MRI is already beating projections and driving revenue.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
