The family wellness warriors initiative.

Abstract

Southcentral Foundation (SCF) is an Alaska Native 501(c) (3) non-profit healthcare organization established in 1982 by the Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI), which is one of thirteen Alaska Native regional corporations created by Congress in 1971 under the terms of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. CIRI established SCF to improve the health and social conditions of Alaska Native people, enhance culture, and empower individuals and families to take charge of their lives. SCF is totally customer-owned and managed by the tribal authority of CIRI. Under the federal Indian Self Determination Act of Public Law 93-638 and Section 325, SCF provides health and human services to approximately 45,000 residents within a geographical area of 107,413 square miles extending from the Canadian border on the east to the entire Aleutian Chain and Pribilof Islands on the west. SCF owns and manages primary care services, community services, behavioral health services, dental services, and residential treatment centers. Our funding sources are 45% Indian Health Service funding, 45% Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance, and 10% grants, contracts and research funding. SCF has experienced dramatic growth over the past fifteen years: the workforce increased from fewer than 100 to about 1300 employees, and the operating budget has grown from $3 million to $118 million. While managing nearly two decades of exponential growth, SCF distinguished itself as one of the nation's leading care providers for Alaska Native and American Indian people, launching such innovations as the nation's first fetal alcohol syndrome prevention program and implementing healthcare industry best practices such as a fully-integrated primary care system and system-wide "open access". SCF has drastically changed the healthcare system from a slow bureaucratic system to a customer-responsive, customer-owned and customer-driven healthcare system.