The success of the SEARHC Community Transformation Grant hinges on engaging community organizations to make population based changes to make healthy living easier. Equipping our SEARHC and CTG Advisory Team with strong communication tools is a key step towards this goal.

He recently completed an interim assignment as CEO at Chase Brexton Health Services, a group of five FQHC clinics throughout the greater Baltimore area. From 2009-10 as Hospital Administrator at ANMC significantly improved financial performance, guiding ANMC from $6M loss in FY2008 to a $3M surplus in FY2009. Working with the Medical Staff and employees, ANMC Reversed declines in quality and patient safety within seven months, guiding ANMC to full JCAHO accreditation. He’s been successful in various leadership positions throughout his career including non-profit community based tertiary medical centers, district hospitals, critical access hospitals, and federally qualified health centers and clinics. He was the CEO of Enloe Medical Center for nine years and the COO at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital for eight years. Dan received his BS in Management from San Diego State University and his MS in Healthcare Administration from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. He’s located in Sitka, so please join us in providing him with a warm welcome.

SEARHC has a long history of providing drug and alcohol treatment; in 1996 the program was organized into its current form, a 40-45 day residential treatment program in Sitka serving Alaska Natives and American Indians.

“We’ve had to anticipate about $3.5 million in reduced spending over the next six months,” said Charles Clement, President/CEO of SEARHC. He continues, “Over the past weeks, we’ve been working hard with the Board of Directors to determine how and what we should be doing different in order to meet this projected cut in the funding that instantly effects our budget. Almost every area SEARHC has been affected and the closing of BBHC is one of the hardest hits to the organization.”

“SEARHC believes that such a program as BBHC is important to those in need, but in its current form, the Bill Brady Healing Center is not financially viable,” said Clement. In the meantime, several BBHC employees will be moved to other departments, or put on furlough, and a few will be let go.

Management, along with the BBHC lead staff will be exploring ways to reinvent the program to make it more self-sustaining. The expectation is to reopen this revamped service line in the coming fiscal year.

,,,,,,,,,,,,

,,,,,,,,,,,,

The free cooking demonstrations will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 26, at the Grace Harbor Church, 1904 Halibut Point Road, and from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 27, at the Swan Lake Senior Center, 402 Lake Street.

Traditional foods are an important facet to living a healthy style. Alaskan chef, Rob will share great ideas on preparation of these amazing foods. On Tuesday, chef Rob Kinneen will demonstrate how to make a heart healthy fish soup and a refreshing berry beverage that is friendly to patients living with diabetes. Wednesday’s demonstration will be an equally delightful and healthy traditional surprise for your palate.

Please come and experience chef Rob Kinneen’s mouth-watering creations, and add some healthy recipes to your recipe box.

For more information, contact SEARHC Health Educator Renae Mathson in Sitka at 966-8797.

,,,,,,,,,,,,

Elizabeth Peratrovich Day is a special day for SEARHC’s Alaska Native patients and staff, and it is important that we honor her achievements. Our outpatient clinics will be closed on Friday, Feb. 15, for Elizabeth Peratrovich Day, but we will have on-call staff available to provide emergency care at those clinics that offer emergency services. We also will have regular staff working at S’áxt’ Hít Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital to take care of our patients who are hospitalized.
It was Peratrovich’s impassioned testimony before the Alaska Territorial Legislature in 1945 that led to the passage of an Anti-Discrimination Bill eliminating the blatant discrimination policies faced by Alaska Natives. Until the bill passed, many Alaska businesses wouldn’t serve Natives and treated Natives as second-class citizens.

In 1988, the Alaska Legislature established Feb. 16 as Elizabeth Peratrovich Day, using the anniversary date of the bill’s signing in 1945. It is a day set aside so Alaskans can pause to remember the former Grand Camp President of the Alaska Native Sisterhood and honor her efforts to preserve equality and justice for all Alaskans regardless of race, creed and ethnic background.

,,,,,,,,,,,,

Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in Alaska and the US. In Alaska, 5 percent of adults and 8 percent of high school youth use smokeless tobacco. Alaska Native adults use smokeless tobacco at higher rates, with usage rates averaging 15 percent for men and 9 percent for women.

Jenny Olendorff, Alaska Tobacco Control Alliance Smokeless Tobacco Workgroup Chair said, “The use of smokeless tobacco, including chewing tobacco, continues to be a problem in Alaska. Many people believe that smokeless tobacco is less harmful than cigarettes, which is just what the tobacco companies would like us to believe. The truth is, smokeless tobacco is NOT a safe alternative to cigarettes, and has serious health effects, including cancer, gum disease, and heart disease.”

At least 28 chemicals in smokeless tobacco have been found to cause cancer including oral, esophageal and pancreatic cancer. Using smokeless tobacco may also cause heart disease, gum disease, and oral lesions other than cancer, such as leukoplakia (precancerous white patches in the mouth).

While quitting tobacco is hard, you don’t have to do it alone. There are FREE resources available to help. If you are interested in quitting tobacco, call the SEARHC Tobacco Quit Program toll free at 1-888-966-8875. They offer free one on one quit support, educational services, and nicotine replacement therapy. Or you can call Alaska’s Tobacco Quit Line at 1-800-QUIT-NOW to begin your quit journey today! Also visit www.alaskaquitline.com or www.facebook.com/alaskaquitline for more information.

For more information on “Through with Chew Week” and the “Great American Spit Out” you can go to throughwithchew.com.

,,,,,,,,,,,,

“All the hard work Anna has done over the years and most recently the work to become a PA-C is truly an amazing accomplishment,” said SEARHC Alicia Roberts Medical Center (Klawock) Clinic Administrator Joyce Moore, who also supervises the Alma Cook Medical Center in Hydaburg. “Anna is a true role model for our kids today; she is compassionate about health care and shows that in the way she takes care of our people. I am excited to have Anna back.”

Anna has been with SEARHC since 1995, when she started as a community health aide. She later was promoted to community health practitioner (the highest level in the CHA/P program), and in 2009 she received the “Shining Star” Health Aide of the Year Award from the directors of the Alaska Community Health Aide Program.

Two years ago, Anna entered the University of Washington School of Medicine’s MEDEX Northwest Division of Physician Assistant Studies Program, which now has a University of Alaska Anchorage campus. She graduated from the program this summer and recently passed her physician assistant certification board exams from the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. During the MEDEX program graduation ceremony, Anna received the Anchorage Underserved Award, which is “is awarded to students that are recognized for exceptional achievement in the care of, improved access for or promotion of public awareness of the needs of the medically underserved. The recipient will have demonstrated a strong dedication to ongoing service to underserved communities.” During her her second year of MEDEX studies, Anna spent time working in urgent care at the SEARHC S’áxt’ Hít Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital in Sitka.

“She has put forth a tremendous effort in the past two years while in training, and we are looking forward to her being the supervisory provider at the SEARHC Alma Cook Medical Center in Hydaburg,” said Dr. Russ Bowman, DO, MS, MHA, SEARHC Community Health Care Services Medical Director. “We are very excited to have Anna in this role and know she will do very well in it.”

“I started working for SEARHC in 1995 as a health aide, and I enjoy what I do,” Anna said. “I decided, with encouragement from my husband and community members, to go to school to become a PA.”

In order to complete her Alaska physician assistant license, Anna will work under the direct supervision of Dr. Ellen Kemper at the Alicia Roberts Medical Center in Klawock for four weeks before she can start working independently as a PA-C in Hydaburg.

Anna’s medical interests include disease prevention and health promotion. She also loves volleyball, hiking, cake decorating and crocheting.

,,,,,,,,,,,,

“We are very excited to have a physician assistant with a certification in psychiatry join the clinic staff,” said Janice Hamrick, LCSW, BHP, SEARHC Community Family Services program manager and interim Haa Toowóo Náakw Hít clinic manager. “Terry comes to us with a wide range of experience. We are excited about his holistic approach.”

Terry is certified as a physician assistant with a certificate of added qualifications (CAQ) in psychiatry by the National Commission on the Certification of Physician Assistants. He attended the University of Washington in Seattle, where he earned his physician assistant credential through the University of Washington School of Medicine’s MEDEX program and also earned a Bachelor of Clinical Health Services degree. In addition, he holds a licensed practical nurse credential earned at Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood, Wash.

Before moving to Sitka, Terry worked in Bethel practicing primary care and psychiatry with the Bethel Family Clinic. Prior to moving to Alaska, Terry worked as a psychiatric physician assistant at Shasta County Mental Health and for psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Andrews, both in Redding, Calif., and for Frontier Village Family Health Care in Red Bluff, Calif. He also has worked as a psychiatric nurse at Western State Hospital in Steilacoom, Wash., and Pierce County Behavioral Health in Tacoma.

Terry said he loves working with the severely mentally ill patients as well as all the other psychiatric patients. He also enjoys hiking, golf, waterskiing, fishing, hunting, ranching and gardening.

“I am really enjoying my new position here in Sitka,” Terry said. “My co-workers are great and very helpful. Everyone has been helpful.”

The new clinic space is located in the Klawock Mall (6488 Klawock-Hollis Highway, Space 4), between the credit union and the post office. SEARHC optometrist Dr. Annelle Maygren, OD, has been working out of the Alicia Roberts Medical Center since this summer, and the new location will allow her to offer a full range of eye-care services.

“We are very excited to have an eye clinic that can provide all of the needed eye care and eye wear services to the residents of POW all weeks of the year,” Dr. Maygren said. “I would like to thank all of the many people who worked so hard to help make the SEARHC POW Eye Clinic a reality.”

Two new optometry assistants — Vivian Stuart and Chrissy Hayes — have been hired to help Dr. Maygren in the clinic. The two assistants are being trained to help with eyeglass frame fitting, a service the POW optometry clinic hasn’t been able to offer in the past unless someone from the Sitka optometry clinic was in town.

“It is exciting to expand the eye care services on Prince of Wales,” said SEARHC S’áxt’ Hít Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital Eye Clinic Manager Dr. Pam Steffes, OD, whose clinic in Sitka provided intermittent eye care to Prince of Wales Island until Dr. Maygren was hired. “This will allow us to offer full-time comprehensive eye care to our POW patients, a service that has been needed for a long time.”

“The opening of our new eye clinic went very well; we had a great turn out,” said Joyce Moore, SEARHC Alicia Roberts Medical Center Administrator. “Watching the transformation happen from the ground up was exciting, it took a great deal of work and coordination. Thank you to everyone who played a role in making this happen for our people. To be able to provide eye care on a permanent basis is a great service for all our patients here on POW.”

POW optometry patients can call the new eye clinic’s phone number of 755-4967 to schedule an appointment.

“Michael is an Alaska Native attorney who has valuable experience working with SEARHC and a wide range of tribal health issues,” said Matthew Ione, PHR, SEARHC VP/Chief Administrative Officer. “We all will benefit immensely from his expertise and his first-hand knowledge of issues that affect Southeast Alaska and its people. We are extremely happy he has come to SEARHC to represent the people and communities we are here to serve.”

Having served as interim general counsel for SEARHC since June, Michael joins SEARHC after spending the past five-plus years as an associate attorney with the Indian law firm of Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Miller & Munson, LLP, in Anchorage, where he worked on a wide variety of tribal health issues. Prior to joining Sonosky, Chambers, Michael clerked for Alaska Superior Court Judge Trevor N. Stephens in Ketchikan. During law school, Michael participated in the University of Washington Law School Tribal Court Criminal Defense Clinic, serving as a public defender on the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Tulalip, Wash. He also served as a summer clerk with the Native American Rights Fund in Boulder, Colo., and was a summer associate with the law firm of Williams, Kastner & Gibbs, PLLC, in Seattle.

Michael earned his Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the University of Washington Law School in Seattle, and his Bachelor of Arts degree from Fairhaven College’s Law and Diversity program at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. Michael is admitted to practice in Washington and Alaska, and before the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

“I am very excited to join the SEARHC team as general counsel,” Michael said. “It is a true privilege to have the opportunity to return to Southeast Alaska, where my family originates (Hydaburg), and to serve the Tlingít, Haida, Tsimshian and other Native people within the Southeast Alaska community.”

Michael is Haida (Eagle moiety) and he is the grandson of Georgianna and Julius Douglas from Hydaburg. Michael is a past board member and president of the Northwest Indian Bar Association (NIBA), and currently coordinates NIBA’s Indian Legal Scholars Program, which provides scholarships to Alaska Native and American Indian law students. Michael also has been a volunteer mentor with the Alaska Court System Color of Justice Program. He enjoys playing baseball for the Fairview Pirates (Anchorage Adult Baseball League), snowboarding and traveling abroad.

The tribes join the growing number of 13 Southeast and 36 statewide Alaska tribes that have already passed local smoke-free and tobacco-free policies. This tribal movement for tobacco-free workplaces was sparked by the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) and the Alaska Native Brotherhood/Alaska Native Sisterhood Grand Camp delegates, who in 2011 unanimously supported a statewide smoke-free workplace resolution.

In Southeast Alaska, 88 percent of Alaska Native people have smoke-free rules in their homes, and about 88 percent believe that smoking should never be allowed in work places. Yet, about twice as many Alaska Native adults still work at unprotected workplaces compared to non-Native adults. A significant amount of secondhand smoke exposure occurs in workplaces, bingo halls, and other public places. Secondhand smoke exposure has known immediate adverse health effects on the heart and blood vessels and contributes to preventable illness and premature death.

“When tribal leadership creates workplace policies that protect tribal members from secondhand smoke, they also support people to quit tobacco. This is a win-win situation,” said Andrea Thomas, SEARHC Tobacco Program Manager.

For more information about passing local tobacco free policies," please contact SEARHC Tobacco Program Manager Andrea Thomas at 966-8883 or andrea.thomas@searhc.org"," or contact SEARHC Health Educator Edy Rodewald at 364-4452 or edy.rodewald@searhc.org.

",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,