The Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC) is a non-profit health center based in

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...

, United States, which provides medical services to 158,000

Alaska Natives Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tli ...

and other Native Americans in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. It acts as both the secondary and

tertiary care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delive ...

referral hospital for the Alaska Region of the

Indian Health Service The Indian Health Service (IHS) is an operating division (OPDIV) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). IHS is responsible for providing direct medical and public health services to members of federally recognized Native ...

(IHS). Established in 1997, ANMC is jointly owned and managed by the

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) is a non-profit health organization based in Anchorage, Alaska, which provides health services to 158,000 Alaska Natives and Native Americans in the United States, American Indians in Alaska. Estab ...

and

Southcentral Foundation Southcentral Foundation (SCF) is an Alaska Native healthcare organization established by Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI) in 1982. Its objective is to improve the health and social conditions of Alaska Native and American Indian people by promoting ...

as well as tribal governments, and their regional health organizations. The hospital is a 380,635 sq ft, 167-bed facility which opened in May 1997. It has a staff which includes over 250 physicians. ANMC is one of only two level II trauma centers in Alaska. The center is part of the Alaska Federal Health Care Access Network that provides telehealth services to 180 Alaska Native community village clinics. ANTHC opened a 202-bed patient housing facility connected by skybridge to ANMC on January 2, 2017. Ronald McDonald House occupies the 6th floor of patient housing for families and expectant mothers with high risk pregnancies. This is the first tribal partnership between Ronald McDonald House Charities and a tribal organization. ANMC had previously achieved magnet status but was unable to maintain it as of 2019. The largest hospital in

United States Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services which manages public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The assistant s ...

history, the center was built with 168 million in federal funds secured by Senator

Ted Stevens Theodore Fulton Stevens Sr. (November 18, 1923 – August 9, 2010) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States Senate, U.S. Senator from Alaska from 1968 to 2009. He was the longest-serving Republican Party (United St ...

of Alaska after a thirty-year congressional battle. The design architects were assisted by an Alaska Native design committee with the goal of integrating their traditional values, design esthetics, lifestyles, and environmental concerns into a state of the art hospital. This resulted in a modern facility with an atmosphere comfortable to Alaska Native by using natural lighting, expansive views to the outside, traditional finishes and textures typical of Alaska Native, as well as Native crafts and artwork displays. Construction was completed by a team of contractors and architects headed by Public Health Service professionals. Quyana Hospitality Services is a complimentary service available to patients. Services include assistance with Medicaid extensions, housing upon provider referral, and patient travel within the Anchorage service area or following patient medevac to ANMC upon provider referral. The old ANMC facility, built in 1953 as a

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

sanitarium, was seriously damaged in the

1964 Alaska earthquake The 1964 Alaska earthquake, also known as the Great Alaska earthquake and Good Friday earthquake, occurred at 5:36 PM Alaska Standard Time, AKST on Good Friday, March 27, 1964.

, and had been slated for replacement for many years. The five-year construction project for its relocation culminated on June 2, 1997, in a one-day move of all programs, patients and departments from the old facility in downtown Anchorage to the new building away.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1997 establishments in Alaska Alaska Native culture in Anchorage Alaska Native organizations Hospital buildings completed in 1953 Hospital buildings completed in 1997 Buildings and structures in Anchorage, Alaska Hospitals in Alaska Organizations based in Anchorage, Alaska 1953 establishments in Alaska Trauma centers Hospitals established in 1997