SEARHC - President's Message

Update for January 30, 2010

2010 U.S. Census starts counting, so stand up and be counted. With much fanfare, Noorvik, Alaska, on Jan. 26 was the site for the first official counting in the 2010 U.S. Census. Over the next few months, census workers will be visiting many of Alaska's remote communities to try and get an accurate count of our people. Residents of larger communities will receive a 10-question census form in their mail in mid-March, and census workers are expected to visit rural communities in Southeast Alaska in April. We encourage everybody to participate in the census, which takes place every 10 years. Much of our federal and state funding is tied into formulas that use census population data. Native Americans and Alaska Natives historically have the highest rates of undercounting, and not being counted can mean we lose funding for tribal health, social service, education, housing and other programs. This year's census form is the shortest ever, but one new thing is being able to identify your tribal enrollment. For more information about how the census matters, go to http://www.searhc.org/2010census/.

Wear Red Day on Feb. 5 promotes women's heart health. The SEARHC WISEWOMAN Women's Health Program encourages people to go red for women by wearing red clothes to work on National Wear Red Day on Friday, Feb. 5. This is an annual event that brings awareness to heart disease in women and what can be done to prevent it. It also serves as a kick-off event for February being American Heart Month. On Wear Red Day, the Litehouse Cafeteria at Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital will serve a heart-healthy menu. Also this month, the SEARHC WISEWOMAN Women's Health Program will partner with Sitka Community Hospital to provide free blood pressure checks on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 6-7, and on Wednesday, Feb. 10, WISEWOMAN, Sitka Community Hospital, Sitka Medical Clinic, ALPS Federal Credit Union and the Sitka and Mt. Edgecumbe girls high school basketball teams will host the "Pack the Gym Pink and Red" basketball game to raise awareness for breast cancer and heart disease.

SEARHC hosts community cancer forums Feb. 3-5 in Juneau, Sitka and Klawock. SEARHC will join with the Alaska Native Medical Center and the Alaska Native Epidemiology Center to host a series of three community cancer forums Feb. 3-5 in Juneau, Sitka and Klawock. The forums take place at 6:30-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 3, at the Ethel Lund Medical Center in Juneau; at 6:30-8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4, at the Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital Litehouse Cafeteria in Sitka; and at 7-8:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 5, at the Klawock School library. Guest speakers include Dr. Greg Marino, the oncologist from the Alaska Native Medical Center, and Janet Kelly, MS, MPH, of the Alaska Native Epidemiology Center. A variety of panelists will make presentations and then be available for questions and answers. For more information, contact Dr. David Vastola at 966-8754 or david.vastola@searhc.org.

SEARHC Tobacco Program opens office on Prince of Wales. Longtime Alicia Roberts Medical Center employee Sandra Demmert has joined the SEARHC Tobacco Program as a tobacco health educator and cessation counselor. Sandra expects to start seeing tobacco cessation clients starting Monday, Feb. 8, at ARMC, after she completes some training. Half of her time will be used for tobacco cessation, with the rest spent on tobacco policy and other wellness activities. Before joining the SEARHC Tobacco Program, Sandra worked as a dental assistant and health aide at ARMC. She also spent seven years as a Community Family Service Worker (CFSW) at ARMC before moving to Juneau to train as a dental assistant. Her new number at ARMC is 755-4925.

SEARHC Behavioral Health Prevention teaches drum-building in Haines. Anthony Gastelum of the SEARHC Behavioral Health Prevention Program in Kake traveled to Haines the week of Jan. 18-22 to teach two drum-building classes at the ANB Hall in Haines. Both classes had 15 students of all ages, even though the weather was bad enough to cause a rare school closure. The classes were held in partnership with the Chilkoot Indian Association and the BIRCH Americorps Program in Haines.

Hydaburg Health Center prepares for construction move. In preparation for the renovation and expansion project at the SEARHC Hydaburg Health Center, we will start packing up the clinic on Monday, Feb. 1, so we can move next door to our temporary quarters for the next year at the Boys and Girls Club building. While we make the move, some of our routine operations may be disrupted but we will be able to take care of all urgent and emergency health care needs at the Hydaburg Health Center. Also, there will be an interruption of phone service from Feb. 12-17 as our phone lines are switched to the temporary clinic. At some point on Friday, Feb. 12, APT Alaska will transfer the main clinic number (285-3462) into a cell phone for the weekend. They hope to have our phone lines reconnected by Wednesday, Feb. 17, if not earlier. Since we only will have one phone line during this Feb. 12-17 transfer period, we ask patients to keep calls to a minimum so our provider can be reached in an emergency. If you have problems reaching the Hydaburg provider during these dates, please call the Alicia Roberts Medical Center's provider on call at 738-4901 and the ARMC provider can assist you. Also, be aware that Tuesday, Feb. 16, all SEARHC clinics will be closed for Elizabeth Peratrovich Day (we will have providers on call in case of emergencies). We appreciate your patience while we make this move.

Sitka Presbyterian Church presents Raven's Way program with Peacemaking Offering. The Sitka Presbyterian Church recently donated $367.98 to the Yéil Jeeyáx Raven's Way adolescent substance abuse treatment program as part of the church's national Peacemaking Offering. The local church donates 25 percent of the offering to local ministries it believes makes a difference in peacemaking within the church and the community. This year the Sitka Presbyterian Church selected Raven's Way to receive the donation because "we believe that you are an integral component of peace in our community." Raven's Way program director Rebecca Howe said the Raven's Way staff is honored to receive the recognition and staff still is determining how it will use the money. The staff wants to use it in an area that honors what the money was donated for, peacemaking.

Living Well Alaska chronic disease self-management classes offered on POW. Living Well Alaska is a series of six free weekly workshops for Prince of Wales Island residents sponsored by the SEARHC Diabetes and Health Promotion programs at the Alicia Roberts Medical Center in Klawock, the Southeast Senior Services Klawock Senior Center and the State of Alaska Chronic Disease Self-Management Program. The free Living Well Alaska workshops take place from 6-8:30 p.m. on six straight Monday evenings from Feb. 8 through March 15 (Feb. 8, 15, 22, March 1, 8 and 15), at the Klawock Senior Center, 465 Summit St. These workshops are for people and their families who have arthritis, asthma, chronic pain, diabetes, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, lung disease and/or any other chronic conditions that require constant care. For information, contact Julie Sturdevant at ARMC at 755-4975 or call Beverlee Tyner at the Klawock Senior Center at 755-2388. You also can go to http://www.hss.state.ak.us/dph/chronic/smp/ to download a brochure about the workshops.

Flu Prevention reminder. Southeast Alaska residents can help prevent the spread of flu by washing their hands frequently with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer (especially after coughing or sneezing). Other ways to prevent the spread of flu include coughing into sleeves or a tissue instead of coughing into hands, staying home from work or school when sick with flu-like symptoms (don’t go back to work or school until at least one full day has passed without a fever, with no fever-reducing medication), and using sanitary wipes to wipe down high-traffic surfaces such as computer keyboards, stair railings, doorknobs, telephones and light switches.

Updated information on the flu can be found online at http://www.pandemicflu.alaska.gov (state site), or at http://www.flu.gov/ or http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/ (national sites). SEARHC also has information posted about H1N1 flu at http://www.searhc.org/h1n1/.

Just a reminder. . . SEARHC frequently brings in traveling medical specialists to hold specialty clinics at its various facilities, saving you the expense and inconvenience of flying to Anchorage or Seattle for services not available in Southeast. Some SEARHC medical providers who work at larger facilities make regular trips to our village clinics to provide specialty services that aren't normally available in those communities. All specialty clinics, except for medical field trips and specified dental clinics, must be referred through a SEARHC provider. Links to our upcoming specialty clinic schedules are at http://www.searhc.org/common/pages/specialtyclinics/index.php.

Regards,
Roald.

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