Happy Holidays!
Congratulations to YKHC’s Elder Home for being awarded its second consecutive annual Quality Improvement Award by Mountain Pacific, Alaska’s healthcare quality improvement organization. Like any journey towards quality, it has been a long and arduous one, and definitely very rewarding.
Operating a skilled nursing facility in remote Alaska is challenging. Providing high quality care and being recognized by the State of Alaska and our peers for two years in a row is exceptional and without equal. I want to personally thank the Elder Home’s current and former leadership and every team member for what they do each and every day! Their embrace of Lean management theory and its application has borne fruit. Each teammate is the reason this journey has been successful and with their continued leadership and stewardship, it will continue.
With that, I would like to announce our future plans to pursue a new joint venture with the US Indian Health Service to expand the Elder Home. The joint venture program is a nationwide, competitive program that we will apply for in the spring of 2025. If successful, it would double the size of the facility and increase its residents from 18 to 36. The Elder Home has a waitlist and doubling our capacity is the next right step towards achieving our vision for the Yukon-Kuskokwim region and our customers.
Workforce and housing issues will always be a challenge but the opening of our new 132-unit staff apartment complex in 2026 will greatly alleviate our daily recruiting challenges at the Elder Home and across all YKHC departments. As we all know, the lack of housing in Bethel has been a significant challenge to recruiting and retaining new staff.
Lastly, we are also working on plans to expand the new,109-room Qavartarik Customer Lodge. Lately, we have averaged full occupancy twice a week. We planned for this when designing the facility and reserved space next to it for this expansion. We look forward to sharing more updates with you when available.
As for current construction, we are continuing to build new clinics in Anvik, Metarvik, Oscarville and Stony River. Kwigillingok and Lime Village will receive new clinic expansions. We will also renovate and double the size of our supply warehouse and build a daycare facility for employees. Excluding the expansions to the Elder Home and Lodge, we currently have over $150 million of new infrastructure in design or under construction.
These significant investments in new infrastructure are an unparalleled growth happening nowhere else in rural Alaska. They will greatly improve access and quality across the YKHC health system, and thus, ultimately the health of our People. YKHC is only able to undertake this historic journey towards improved quality due to our unrelenting commitment towards excellence and our superior financial strength.
I thank our leadership, providers and all 1,600 employees for your dedication and devotion towards achieving our mission and vision for the benefit of the 30,000 residents of the great Yukon-Kuskokwim region.
I wish each of you a joyous holiday season. Sincerely,
