Groundbreaking at Alaska Native Medical Center Emergency Services Expansion
Photo Credit: Ken Graham Photography
The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) held a groundbreaking ceremony to commence the construction of expanded emergency services at Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC) in Anchorage.
Largest Investment Yet
The first phase will create additional patient care spaces within emergency services, enhance emergency services by creating appropriate spaces for patients experiencing mental health and substance use issues, and improve patient transport by creating a dedicated drive-through ambulance entrance.
The ANTHC board of directors dedicated $257 million to the project, representing the largest investment in the federally owned hospital since the federal government established the consortium and transferred the operation of health services to Alaska Native tribes and tribal health organizations.
“We thank everyone who made this milestone possible and recognize the collaboration of our federal partners at the Indian Health Service—and Senator Lisa Murkowski, Senator Dan Sullivan, and Representative Mary Peltola—for providing the resources necessary for this significant investment,” says Natasha Singh, interim president and CEO of ANTHC.
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Singh adds, “ANTHC is moving forward with this historic investment to expand services now because patients cannot afford to wait any longer.”
Since the current hospital opened in the late ‘90s, the Alaska Native and American Indian population ANTHC serves has grown while life expectancy increased and healthcare needs became more complex.
ANTHC Board Chair Kimberley Strong calls the emergency services expansion a long-overdue investment. “The patients that we serve deserve the highest-quality care when they need it most. This investment starts to meaningfully address decades of underinvestment in the Alaska Native Medical Center, our tribal referral hospital,” she says.
A proposed second phase would address overall capacity at ANMC by adding three floors of inpatient beds, converting to private inpatient rooms, and constructing a helipad to enhance trauma services.
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