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Let me begin by expressing my deep gratitude to all of you as health care professionals. Thank you for your compassion and dedication as you care for your patients and help your communities envision a healthier future.
Alaska’s Medicaid program provides essential health coverage for a quarter of Alaskans throughout the state. Recent Medicaid budget reductions have posed challenges on many levels, but we hope these changes will eventually provide opportunities to improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of the program for all Alaskans. The department invites interested providers to participate in upcoming meetings to discuss Medicaid. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Nicole Dice at (907) 269-7800.
Another way you can get involved is to participate on the Medical Care Advisory Committee. This is a public advisory group charged with advising the State of Alaska on Medicaid policy and program changes. MCAC members meet quarterly via teleconference or face–to–face. If you are interested in receiving an e-mail alert regarding upcoming MCAC meetings, please sign up at mcac.hss@alaska.gov.
Fourth Annual Alaska Training Institute: Trauma, Resilience & Advanced Skills for Substance Use Disorder
Connect with DHSS
Office hours: At least once a month I plan on holding office hours in different communities to hear from you, and listen to your concerns and successes. Thank you to the Juneau community for helping kick off the first one. Kotzebue was our second location for office hours. As future dates and locations are set, they will be shared via this newsletter. In the meantime, feel free to contact me directly via email or phone.
Providers as advisors: We are building a database of providers who are willing to be contacted via email or phone regarding ongoing state health care issues. For example, on the topic of vaccine hesitancy, we hope to reach out to primary care providers to better understand vaccine hesitancy and how the state can better support you in your work. If you are willing to occasionally be contacted by me, or other DHSS employees regarding clinical input or administrative questions and concerns, please send your name, email, phone, specialty, and primary location of practice to Nicole Dice, administrative assistant, (907) 269-7800, Nicole Dice
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Please email me at Anne.Zink@alaska.gov if you would like future events and medical conferences included in this calendar.