Alaska Center for Rural Health and Health Workforce
The Alaska Center for Rural Health & Health Workforce (ACRH-HW) is committed to strengthening
and diversifying Alaska’s health workforce, especially in rural communities and underserved
populations. The Center is composed of a variety of programs, most notably the Alaska
Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) which is composed of six regional community based
centers throughout the state. As part of the University of Alaska Anchorage's role
as the state's health campus, the Center supports health program planning, community partnership, diversity, inclusion and intercampus
collaboration. The Center provides the framework of statewide community partnerships
to support the full pipeline of health workforce development from career exploration
to health program training to continuing education.
In a recent analysis of the state’s healthcare workforce, the Alaska Hospital and Healthcare Association found that job vacancies are increasing, and not enough people are entering the workforce to make up for it.
Leaders in Alaska discussed the pressing healthcare workforce crisis in the state and ways to support and retain providers at the 2023 Alaska State of Reform Conference last month.
The latest edition of Spirit magazine featured UAA nursing alumni taking on Alaska's needs. Since the pandemic began in early 2020, UAA's School of Nursing has graduated more than 500 new nurses into the state's health care system.