Update for Week ending
June 06, 2009
- Suicide Prevention Conference. On Monday and Tuesday, the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (CCTHITA) and the State of Alaska sponsored a Suicide Prevention Symposium and Planning Session at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall in Juneau. The session covered the “Suicide Hurts” video presentation, statistics update, myths versus reality, reactions to grief and loss/acute traumatic events, community risk factors, and community strategic planning. The conference included Tribal Leaders from across Southeast Alaska. Melody Price-Yonts, SEARHC Behavioral Health Director, participated in the conference.
- Quyana House Concerns. Lincoln Bean (ANTHC Representative), Victoria Demmert (Board Chair), and I met with Dan Neumeister, ANMC Administrator. We requested the meeting to discuss the ongoing problems for our patients arriving at the Quyana House to find that rooms are not available or sent to a nearby hotel. We discussed the needs of patients traveling from Southeast Alaska as well as the limited airline connection for our patients arriving from Southern Southeast. Mr. Neumeister committed to working on concerns for our patients and mutually find resolution to this long-standing issue. He was also concerned to provide nutritious alternatives in the cafeteria at ANMC within the financial amount provided to our patients each day. I will keep you updated on our progress.
- Final Negotiations. It was a long week at final negotiations with the rest of the Alaska Tribal Health Compact co-signers and the Indian Health Service. It was an entire week of activity and I will try to hit the highlights. In addition to common language for the compact, we negotiated amendments to our Annual Funding Agreement. New FFY2009 funds were distributed based upon a formula determined last year. There were several topics related to new services and funding:
- Maintenance and Improvement (M&I) Recovery Act Funds. SEARHC will receive funds from the Recovery Act through M&I for a new roof, windows, and siding on our hospital. These project funds will have an administrative charge from ANTHC of 4%. It was determined by the IHS that these funds must go through ANTHC due to Section 325 that established ANTHC. We will also receive additional x-ray equipment for Haines.
- New Meth/Suicide Prevention Funding. An allocation formula was determined for the Meth/Suicide Prevention funding from the Indian Health Services. We are preparing a proposal for the limited funds and will invite YTT and HIA to join in our proposal.
- Update on IHS HIT Funds. As part of the Recovery Act (ARRA), the Indian Health Service received $85 million for Health Information Technology (HIT). During IHS’s discussions with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), it was decided that these funds would only be used for infrastructure for the RPMS system. The Alaska Compact has disagreed with the decision process that excluded Self-Governance Tribes from this funding. Our position is that half of that funding should have gone to Self-Governance organizations. There is some funding that may come our way to support a few routers (probably around $75,000). There are additional funds for HIT at the Office of the Coordinator within Health and Human Services (HHS). We are planning to request some of these funds for Self-Governance Health purposes. We will continue to apply for any funds available to us for small projects for the IHS HIT. Also, it is worth noting that there will be significant incentives through the High Tech provisions of the ARRA (through Medicare and Medicaid).
- Early Behavioral Health Intervention. Carolyn Lemmon, Community Family Services Coordinator, was in Kake June 2nd to meet with the medical and behavioral health staff. The Kake and Alicia Roberts MedicalCenters are participating in a two year pilot project funded by the Alaska Mental Health Trust and the Rasmuson Foundation. The focus of this initiative is to implement two innovative and integrated models of early behavioral health intervention: Impact, a University of Washington model for screening and treatment of depression, and the SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral and Treatment) for alcohol abuse treatment. We believe the potential of early screening for depression and substance abuse is tremendous.
- Update Hydaburg Health & Safety Fair. We received wonderful reports on the Health and Safety Fair in Hydaburg. Congratulations on a job well done and an exciting day.
- New MEH Outpatient Triage. As part of our of our systems transformation, a new triage service is available next to patient registration at Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital. The patient triage nurse accepted its first patient on June 3rd. It is a place where walk-in patients meet with a nurse who guides them to the care they need and also allows patients to speak with a registered nurse over the phone. The goal of this process is to expedite care for patients from urgent care, the emergency room or their primary care provider. Triage will help patients navigate the system more efficiently, so they can receive the appropriate level of care in a timely fashion.
- Sealaska’s 2009 Employee Health Challenge. Our Healthy Lifestyle staff will be assisting Sealaska for conclusion of their 2009 employee health challenge. On Friday, June 19 our staff will assist with the final weigh-in and measures (waist & hips). There are 34 participants in their challenge.
- Just Move It! This is a teaser to begin thinking about our Just Move It! campaign on October 10th. The campaign’s effort is toward physical activity. More to come…
Just a reminder. . . SEARHC frequently brings in traveling medical specialists to hold specialty clinics at our various facilities. Please click here to view our upcoming specialty clinic schedules.
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