Our Health.
Our Sovereignty.
Our health care is best when it’s in our hands.
Let’s bring Tribal ownership to our hospital.
This hospital is a space that Alaska Native people share. It’s a place where many of us were born. A place where we come to heal, to hold the hands of our relatives, and to eat moose soup and salmon even when we are far away from home. This is our hospital. It’s time that we assumed ownership of the building from the federal government.
Tribes, through the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, have successfully managed and operated ANMC as the state’s only tertiary care hospital serving all Alaska Native and American Indian people for over three decades. To deliver the highest level of care, ANTHC seeks ownership of the facility we operate on behalf of the 229 federally recognized Tribes in Alaska.
When ANMC opened its doors in 1997, it served 105,000 people. By 2021, that population had grown to 163,385, and it is projected to grow to 211,203 by 2032 — double what it was initially designed for. Investments in the hospital have not kept up.
Our hospital is bursting at the seams.
We must invest significantly in existing infrastructure and expand our facilities to meet the growing needs of those we serve and prepare for future generations.
Federal ownership cuts off important sources of funding for capital projects that are available for Tribally owned facilities, and it means big efforts to build up the system of care have long been subjected to a slow and distant federal bureaucracy.
The net result? Maintenance and repairs have been deferred, patient beds in hallways are still prevalent despite national shifts to private spaces for healing, and facilities across the board are taxed. Patients from every community and region in our state deserve better.
For the sake of our health and our sovereignty, it’s time for us to take ownership over our hospital.
Tribal ownership of the hospital means:
Better care for our people
In order to invest appropriately in our campus and create expanded facilities that serve the needs of all of our patients, Tribes must own their hospital through ANTHC.
Better facilities in our hospital
Ownership of the hospital would allow ANTHC to access new funding streams to address facility maintenance. We are on pace to address the current maintenance needs over the next 36 years. Hospital ownership would allow us to reduce that time horizon to four years.
Better governance, right here at home
We operate the hospital and understand facility needs better than government workers in DC. Assuming ownership of the facility would streamline processes to maintain and upgrade the facility.