March 15, 2009
Participants at last year's Tribal Gathering listen to a health status presentation.
Tribal Unity Gathering — A Healthy Mind and Heart
The 16th Tribal Unity Gathering will be taking place April 1-2 at Bethel’s Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center. The Gathering theme will be “A Healthy Mind & Heart,” focusing on the importance of mental and cardiovascular health.
Following an update of the 2008 priorities, the Gathering will begin with presentations on local mental health initiatives, including regional suicide prevention efforts and stress management. The second day will have presentations focused on cardiovascular health, including hypertension and diabetes and the heart. The final part of the conference will allow delegates to talk about health concerns facing each of their communities.
President/CEO: Welcome to Tribal Unity Gathering XVI
I would like to extend a warm welcome to all the Tribal representatives, guests, presenters and employees who are joining us for the 16th Tribal Unity Gathering. The Gathering brings together people from every community in our region to exchange ideas, concerns and expectations about improving our overall health status.
We have made remarkable progress since the first Gathering 16 years ago, when YKHC first took over management and operation of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Regional Hospital. In the years since then we have developed a health care delivery system that is relevant and responsive to the real health care needs in our region. We couldn’t have done that without the participation of regional representatives at these Tribal Unity Gatherings.
The annual priorities set at Tribal Gatherings have directly guided our progress. We have constructed a system of subregional clinics—with the Hooper Bay Subregional Clinic opening this spring there will be five altogher—to bring health care closer to home; we have remodeled the hospital to accommodate more outpatient visits, revamped our appointment system to decrease wait times, and installed a CT scan machine at the hospital so our patients won’t have to travel to Anchorage for advanced diagnostic imaging.
We are also securing funding for an Assisted Living Home so our Elders who need extra care can be closer to their families. We continue to make other improvements—all as a direct result of Tribal Gathering priorities.
This year the theme of our Gathering is A Healthy Mind and Heart. While we believe that clear thinking and love for one another certainly contribute to wellness, our specific focus here is on Behavioral Health and Cardiovascular Disease. What we call “Behavioral Health” includes treatment for mental illness, psychological counseling, substance abuse treatment, and suicide prevention. We will be talking about all these issues, explaining our scope of services and taking a closer look at the unmet needs and what we can do to improve services.
Heart disease continues to be a killer among our people, along with cancer and injuries. We can confront it head-on with a return to traditional foods and regular exercise, with attention to reducing obesity, preventing diabetes, and controlling blood pressure. Our Diabetes Prevention and Control Department, Healthy Hearts Program and our clinical staff will be offering presentations on ways we can do this.
I am looking forward to these presentations by our staff, but I’m also looking forward to hearing your comments and the wisdom of our elders and community leaders about keeping our minds and hearts healthy throughout the coming year and beyond.
Quyana,
Gene Peltola, President/CEO
