On an overcast day in early June, dozens of community members and YKHC board members and guests gathered together in front of the new Akiachak Native Community Clinic to celebrate the opening of the new village health clinic.
The ceremony started with a prayer by the Moravian pastor and a welcome from President of Akiachak Native Community Fritz George. Community leaders, YKHC board members and staff and project partners including the Rasmuson Foundation and the Indian Health Service also had the opportunity to offer their gratitude to everyone who supported this project.
“I want to congratulate the community for all your hard work. It takes so many people, so many partners to get this all done,” said Vice President of Support Services Deanna Latham, “Without those partnerships, none of this would have happened.”
“This is a great day,” said YKHC President and CEO Dan Winkelman to the gathered crowd. “Your people, our customers, will have the wonderful opportunity to come to this new facility. It’s all about increasing access to better healthcare, trying to improve outcomes for our customers.”
After the final comments, YKHC leadership and board members, attendees cut the red ribbon and the new 2,700 square foot health clinic was officially open!
Following the ceremony, the community gathered at the school to celebrate. With the support of the construction team, health aides moved from the old clinic to the new building later that day and health aides began seeing patients in the new clinic by the end of the week.
The construction of the new clinic was made possible with funds from the Rasmuson Foundation and the Indian Health Service Small Ambulatory Program Grant in partnership with YKHC.
YKHC would like to extend heartfelt gratitude to the community of Akiachak for the warm hospitality and continued partnership in working together toward excellent health.
The opening of the new health clinic in Akiachak is part of YKHC’s ongoing work to update or replace all health clinics in the region. Groundbreakings for new clinics in Oscarville, Anvik and Stony River are scheduled for this year. A new clinic is also in development for Mertarvik and remodel projects are underway in Lime Village and Kwigillingok. When these projects are complete, YKHC will have replaced or remodeled all the village clinics in the YKHC service area—and will then begin refreshing some of our oldest clinics. YKHC is consistently working to ensure our village health clinics are prepared to serve the needs of our communities and support the health of our customers.
