Alaska

Alaska's Public Health System

The state public health agency is the Division of Public Health (DPH) within the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS). The public health workforce is comprised of 519 full‐time equivalent staff. The Section of Nursing supports 21 health centers, which serve more than 200 communities.

Local health services are provided primarily by the state, except for the two areas with local health departments; the Municipality of Anchorage and the North Slope Borough. Some public health services, including personal health services, are provided by Regional Native Health Corporations.

Alaska Department of Health & Human Services >>

Activities

In Alaska, NWCPHP works actively with public health colleagues to design and implement specific training activities, assist in the development of a statewide workforce development strategy and support efforts to build greater capacity for public health education and training.  Examples include:

• Pre-H1N1 vaccine receipt, storage and distribution planning activities included identifying stakeholders; conducting tabletop exercises; determining what was needed to store, ship, and track vaccines, and communicate information to the Department of Health and Social Services Emergency Operations Center (DHSS-EOC); and updating planning guidelines and materials. 
  
• Section of Epidemiology continuity of operations (COOP) plan activates included development and integration of plans into the regular exercise schedule.  The main document created during these activities has been used as a template for use in other public health section COOP plans.
• Conducting eight Mass Dispensing Clinic exercises using flu vaccine.  Exercises were held in or planned for Valdez, Delta Junction, Bethel, Kodiak, Anchorage, Nome, and Sand Point.  Various mass dispensing methods were exercised:  general public Point of Distribution (POD), mobile POD, drive-through, essential workers only, etc.  Eight hundred staff and volunteers participated, and a consolidated After Action Report produced.
• Annual Alaska Public Health Training Institutes are held in Anchorage. At the institutes, NWCPHP faculty and Alaska public health professionals have presented 2.5-day courses in such topics as introductory epidemiology, intermediate epidemiology, and effective community outreach and collaboration.
• NWCPHP developed and taught a Public Health Policy and Law course to MPH students at the University of Alaska-Anchorage.
• NWCPHP has been a strong partner in Alaska's preparedness and emergency response efforts, with affiliated faculty serving on the Alaska Division of Public Health's Bioterrorism Advisory Committee and the Training and Outreach Coordinator participating as a member of Alaska's Education and Training Committee. A central activity of these groups has been the development of a competency-based preparedness training plan for public health staff, hospital workers and first responders.
• Funding from the NWCPHPs HRSA grant assisted the Division of Public Health (DPH) in offering a broad range of public health and emergency preparedness training to public health employees and their partners.
• Faculty from NWCPHP presented a day-long seminar on Public Health Policy targeted to 35 Master of Public Health students at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
• NWCPHP provided technical support on a workforce training needs assessment completed by University of Alaska and DPH. This assessment focused on preparedness and emergency response skills, but also included assessment of general workforce skills and preferred learning formats.