Alaska Native Medical Center

The Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC) is a non-profit health center based in Anchorage, Alaska which provides medical services to around 138,000 Alaska Natives and American Indians in Alaska.[1] It acts as both the secondary and tertiary care referral hospital for the Alaska Region of the Indian Health Service (IHS).[2] Established in 1997, ANMC is jointly owned and managed by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and Southcentral Foundation as well as tribal governments, and their regional health organizations.[1]

The current hospital is a 380,635 sq ft, 150-bed facility which opened in May 1997.[3][4] It has a staff which includes over 250 physicians, 700 nurses and close to 30 radiology technicians. ANMC is Alaska's only level II trauma center, the highest level that can be achieved in Alaska.[3] The building also includes an adjacent hostel for the families of patients as well as a building for the Arctic Investigations programs of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[4] The ANMC has received Magnet Status for nursing excellence, a designation achieved by only about 91 percent of all hospitals nationwide.[1] It is the only tribally operated hospital with Magnet Status in the United States.[1] The largest hospital in United States Public Health Service history, the center was built with 168 million in federal funds secured by Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska after a thirty year congressional battle.[4] The construction of the building was supervised by Native Alaskan leaders who sought to integrate natural finishes and textures typical of Native traditionals as well as Native crafts and artwork displays.[4]

The old ANMC facility, built in 1953 as a tuberculosis sanitarium, was seriously damaged in the 1964 Alaska earthquake, and had been slated for replacement for many years.[4] 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 six miles away.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Alaska Native Medical Center". ANMC. 2010. http://anmc.org/. Retrieved 2010-12-05. 
  2. ^ a b Berwick, Donald Mark (2004), Escape fire: designs for the future of health care, John Wiley and Sons, p. 134, ISBN 978-0-7879-7217-2, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=HhG0mdG3YqAC 
  3. ^ a b Vanasse, Deb (2009), Insiders' Guide to Anchorage and Southcentral Alaska: Including the Kenai Peninsula, Prince William Sound, and Denali National Park (2 ed.), Globe Pequot, p. 205, ISBN 978-0-7627-5071-9, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=TifhggVk0KoC 
  4. ^ a b c d e Rife, James (2009), Caring and curing: a history of the Indian Health Service, PHS COF, p. 118, ISBN 978-0-9773149-2-8, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_oQ6qnczPsoC