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| Courtesy of Ron Neibrugge |
Unlike many health care facility models, community health centers are controlled by patient-majority boards, ensuring that each center is responsive to the needs of the specific community it serves.
Seldovia Village Tribe runs federally recognized Community Health Centers in Homer, Anchor Point and Seldovia.
Seldovia VIllage Tribe Executive Director Crystal Collier: “It’s all about working with them to see exactly what they want to sustain in their lives in terms of health and wellness. Health and wellness includes spirituality and physical health, mental health. It is all part of an integrated system of how wonderful our body is.”
A strong driver in the healthcare sector – the 27 community health centers in Alaska operate 160 clinics that serve 110,000 Alaskans and employ 1,753 people in Alaska.
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| Crystal Collier |
Recent data suggests community health centers save the U.S. health system approximately $24 billion annually by managing chronic conditions and keeping patients out of costlier health care settings.
Seldovia Village Tribe offers a wide range of health, dental and wellness services to all members of the public on the Kenai Peninsula, demonstrating that locally governed healthcare can improve lives while lowering costs. Unlike traditional hospitals, the focus is on preventative care, wellness – caring for yourself.
Seldovia VIllage Tribe Executive Director Crystal Collier: “We run into health care issues as we all do as we get older. How do you deal with those things? Do you chose a pharmaceutical method? Do you go back to maybe a traditional method that you learned that your grandmother knew, or you adopt one of the new nutrasceutials that are out? There are all those different varieties of looking at how you can care for yourself.”
Recognizing the important partnership between community health centers and the communities they serve, Alaska Governor Bill Walker to proclaim next week Community Health Center Week.
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