Alaska Center for Rural Health & Health Workforce

 

Alaska Center for Rural Health and Health Workforce


The Alaska Center for Rural Health & Health Workforce (ACRH-HW) is dedicated to strengthening Alaska’s health workforce, with a focus on rural communities and addressing workforce shortages. The Center oversees various programs, including the Alaska Area Health Education Centers (AHEC), which operate through six regional community-based centers across the state. As part of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ's role as the state's health campus, the Center supports health program planning, community partnerships, and intercampus collaboration. It provides a statewide framework to support health workforce development, from career exploration and training to continuing education.

FEATURED PROJECTS & PROGRAMS

A group of diverse young women smiling and posing together indoors behind a table, representing the AHEC Scholars program.

A healthcare student in yellow protective gowns and blue gloves practicing medical procedures on a simulation mannequin in a hospital bed, representing the CACHE program.

The Alaska state flag blowing in the wind on a rocky beach, with a view of the ocean and snow-capped mountains in the background.

Two young women outdoors practicing emergency medical response by applying an oxygen mask to a person lying on the ground.

Two dental professionals wearing scrubs, masks, and safety glasses while examining a patient in a dental clinic.

A hiker looking through binoculars at a mountainous glacier landscape while other hikers walk along a rocky path below.

 

NEWS & Stories

  • Vanessa Hiratsuka posing by water

    Faculty Spotlight: New NRC Co-Director, Vanessa Hiratsuka

     |  Chynna Lockett  |  , , ,

    Vanessa Hiratsuka from CHD and Britteny Howell from DPHS are the new Co-Directors for Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµâ€™s National Resource Center on Alaska Native Elders. Vanessa Hiratsuka shares her hopes for the center’s future.

  • Brittney Howell pointing to hot air balloon being inflated

    Faculty Spotlight: New NRC Co-Director, Britteny Howell

     |  Chynna Lockett  |  , , ,

    Vanessa Hiratsuka from CHD and Britteny Howell from DPHS are the new Co-Directors for Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµâ€™s National Resource Center on Alaska Native Elders. Britteny Howell shares her journey into geriatrics.

  • Maggie Winston

    Alumni of Distinction: Maggie Winston

     |  Matt Jardin  | 

    One morning in 2005, psychology alumna Maggie Winston — then a 21-year-old hairdresser and mother of twin boys living in Kenai — woke up feeling cramps between her shoulder blades. Within an hour, she couldn’t walk.

  • STEM day family dressed as health care professionals

    Children explore health care careers at Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ STEM Day

     |  Vicki Nechodomu  |  , , ,

    After a two-year hiatus, Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ STEM Day returned to campus on October 1, drawing over 1,500 community members to the ConocoPhillips Integrated Science Building to celebrate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, commonly known as STEM. Attendees, primarily children, enjoyed activities, challenges, demonstrations, tours, and planetarium shows that explored a wide range of STEM topics from biology to robotics.

  • Covid vaccine

    Line One: Vaccine access for the disabled community

     |  Alaska Public Media  |  , ,

    More than two years into the pandemic, vaccines are widely available and most health measures have been lifted. But there are still Alaskans who have difficulty accessing vaccines or who have continued health risk in spite of them. Sondra LeClair, Health Projects Coordinator, Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ Center for Human Development, discusses vaccine access for individuals with disabilities in Alaska.

 

Contact Us:
Fax: (907) 786-6573
Email: uaa_ahec@alaska.edu

Location:

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ Center for Rural Health & Health Workforce 
1901 Bragaw Street, Suite 250
Anchorage, AK 99508

Mailing Address:
Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ Center for Rural Health & Health Workforce
 
3211 Providence Drive, BOC3-250
Anchorage, AK 99508