Increasing access and resources for behavioral health in the region is a priority for YKHC. We were grateful for the opportunity to host Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority during their 2023 Rural Outreach Trip to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Region November 1-3.
The three-day visit focused on identifying ways to support and improve behavioral health services in the YK Delta. Trust guests included state legislators and representatives from the State of Alaska divisions of Family and Community Services, Corrections, Public Safety, Health and Human Services, and Law, the Alaska Psychiatric Institute, Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, and the AVCP Rural Housing Authority.
Trust guests, YKHC staff and board members traveled to Toksook Bay, Napakiak, St. Mary’s, and Kwethluk, to meet with Tribes, municipal governments and other community leaders. Quyana to the hospitality of the community members, who took time to share their wisdom, experiences and requests for support and services. These important discussions help create immediate and long-lasting improvements to behavioral health services and systems in our region.
In addition to traveling to villages, Trust groups toured other YKHC facilities—such as the Sobering Center, Crisis Respite Center, McCann and Bautista House, Ayagnirvik Healing Center, and the YK Elders Home and behavioral health centers in the hospital—and visited important partner groups in Bethel, including AVCP, ONC and Tundra Women’s Coalition.
Thank you to the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, our community partners and YKHC staff and board members for your support in addressing the significant need for behavioral health service in the region.
The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority provides leadership in the advocacy, planning, implementing, and funding of services and programs for Trust beneficiaries. Beneficiaries include broad groups of Alaskans who experience mental illness, intellectual and developmental disabilities, substance use disorders, Alzheimer’s disease and relation dementia, traumatic brain injuries.