Health

Alaska starts spending its $272 million in rural health money

Alaska is spending the $272 million it won from a new federal rural health program, and adjusting the promises it made to get it as the money goes out.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Free medical, dental and vision care comes to Sullivan Arena Sept. 19-20

Free medical, dental and vision care is available to anyone at Anchorage's Sullivan Arena Sept. 19 and 20 — no ID, insurance or income required. Come early.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska congenital syphilis cases hit a record in 2025

Alaska recorded 14 cases of congenital syphilis in 2025, the most ever, in a disease preventable with a test and a shot. Native infants were hit hardest.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Ninety-two Alaska water systems are listed as serious violators

Ninety-two Alaska water systems are federal serious violators, close to three times the national rate. The state has not brought a formal action since 2020.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

Tribal consortium takes ownership of Alaska Native Medical Center

The Indian Health Service transferred ownership of the Alaska Native Medical Center to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium on Aug. 24, 2026, opening access to uncapped federal lease payments while the legal authority for the conveyance remains undocumented.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Aug 24

Follows: Tribal consortium takes ownership of Alaska Native Medical Center

Kaktovik under a do-not-drink notice after ethylene glycol found

Kaktovik residents can't drink the village tap water after testing found ethylene glycol, the toxic compound in antifreeze, in the system. Boiling won't help.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

A tiny Bering Sea tribe runs its own healing court, from the island to Anchorage

A tiny tribe in the Bering Sea runs its own healing court for people facing addiction, and a federal grant will extend it to members who've moved to Anchorage.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Grants target Medicare aid Alaska seniors often leave unclaimed

Federal grants of about $271,814 will help low-income Alaska seniors sign up for Medicare programs many never claim, as the state's older population grows.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

The Knik Tribe has $1 million to design youth mental health care

The Knik Tribe has nearly $1 million to design a mental health system for Alaska Native young people in the Mat-Su. The money cannot pay for treatment.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Kodiak hospital chiller running at a third of capacity; borough moves to accept $3.85 million to replace it

Kodiak Island Borough Assembly votes Thursday to accept $3.85 million in state funding to replace a failing hospital chiller that is limiting emergency and surgical care on the island.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Federal money will put naloxone and first aid training on remote Alaska fishing boats

A nurse whose son died of an overdose at sea started mailing naloxone to fishing boats. Federal money will now expand it across remote Alaska.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Recover Alaska wins $349,809 to put a peer recovery specialist on the lower Kenai Peninsula

Recover Alaska won $349,809 to place a peer recovery specialist across five lower Kenai Peninsula communities for three years, serving 225 adults with substance use disorders.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Nine Southeast Alaska communities are getting naloxone vending machines

Naloxone is going into vending machines in nine Southeast Alaska communities you can reach only by boat or plane. None of the sites exist yet.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Tanana Chiefs say up to 45% of dementia may be prevented or delayed

Tanana Chiefs Conference says 45% of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by addressing 14 risk factors, from hearing loss to exercise and vaccines.

by Alaska News2mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 2

Alaska adopts Medicaid rules for specialized group home and family home habilitation

Alaska adopted Medicaid rules for group and family home habilitation services. Disability providers say the new rates may still be too low to sustain services.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Federal Medicare outreach grants send $174,880 to 10 Alaska tribal elder programs

Nine Alaska tribal elder programs will share $160,460 in federal Medicare enrollment grants running through August 2027, with the largest awards going to groups in Anchorage, Dillingham, and Palmer.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Tribal consortium takes ownership of Alaska Native Medical Center

The Alaska Native Medical Center is now owned by the tribes it serves instead of the federal government — a first, and one with real money behind it.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min readFrom Aug 24

Alaska kids can draw their way into the health department's bookmark contest

Alaska's health department wants kids 3 to 18 to draw what being a "Health Hero" means to them — winning bookmark art gets printed. Entries are due Oct. 9.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Norton Sound's health corporation is in line for $7.2 million

Norton Sound Health Corporation would get about $7.2 million in federal rural health money, most of it replacing end-of-life computers in 15 village clinics.

by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read

CDC placed $2 million with an Anchorage firm without competition

CDC awarded $2 million in one-year contracts to Anchorage-based Eagle Health Analytics for emerging infectious disease and Ebola response work, running through September 2027.

by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read

Alaska put a price on crisis beds the Legislature created in 2022

Alaska proposed Medicaid rates for crisis mental health facilities: $1,833 a day for adults and $2,197 for adolescents, the highest on the state's chart.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska joins an EMS licensure compact, but it won't take full effect until 2027

Alaska is joining a compact letting out-of-state paramedics and EMTs work here without a separate license — but it won't really kick in until 2027.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska draws 50 people a year off a disability waitlist that has passed 800

Alaska was ordered to eliminate the waitlist for home-based disability care four years ago. Providers say it has roughly doubled since then.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Interior Alaska's tribal health system is recording patient visits with AI

Tanana Chiefs Conference clinics are recording patient visits with an AI scribe. Patients can say no, and TCC says the recordings are deleted after 90 days.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

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 2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Tanana's rebuilt village clinic has opened

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 2mo 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 News2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: New Alaska Medicaid work rules start in January 2027 — with broad exemptions

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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo ago1 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo ago2 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 AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Aug 25

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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Alaska plans nearly $126 million for rural health projects, its biggest round yet

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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read