C’eyiits’ Hwnax Life House Community Health Clinic
History & Partnership
About the Building
The Ahtnahwt’aene’ Nay’dini’aa den Gathering Place (Ahtna People Chickaloon Place) is a two-story building that houses the C’eyiits’ Hwnax Life House Community Health Center as well as Chickaloon Village Traditional Council’s Health & Social Services Department.
The Life House CHC is located on the first floor, and features several exam and talking rooms, a room for minor procedures, radiology, dietician services and telepharmacy. The facility also houses a wellness center with an exercise area, locker rooms with showers, and space for health education classes. The CVTC Health & Social Services Department—providing transportation services, Elders’ program, and behavioral health and family advocates—are located on the second floor.
About Chickaloon Village Traditional Council
Chickaloon Village Traditional Council (CVTC) is a federally and internationally recognized traditional sovereign government with a nine-member traditional council that is the governing body for Chickaloon Native Village. CVTC’s purpose is to perpetuate their ancestors’ beliefs, customs, traditions, and values and steward the environment to help citizens thrive. The Tribal government currently operates seven departments to serve the needs of their Tribal citizens and another estimated 2,373 Alaska Native and Native American Peoples living in their service area, which includes the communities of Glacier View, Chickaloon, Sutton, Palmer and Butte, along the Matanuska River.
About Southcentral Foundation
Established in 1982, Southcentral Foundation’s (SCF) mission working together with the Native Community to achieve wellness through health and related services. The nonprofit health care affiliate of Cook Inlet Region Inc. (CIRI), SCF has grown in its years from a single dental clinic to an internationally recognized, award-winning health care organization that employs some 2,000 people and manages more than 80 health care programs and services. SCF is one of 15 health care organizations in the nation to ever receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
History
CVTC and SCF received a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) New Access Point grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2013. The grant funding represented a turning point in primary care access in the Matanuska-Susitna region. The funding provided monies for the Life House CHC to operate as a federally qualified health center. CVTC contracts with SCF to provide the health care services. The CHC provides quality health care services to the entire community on a sliding fee scale.
