Municipality of Anchorage awarded $3 million in federal Rural Health Transformation funds from the State of Alaska

Today, the Municipality of Anchorage announced it won a $3 million federal grant from the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP). The grant was awarded by the State of Alaska Department of Health.

"This grant will be a huge boost to our efforts to help people in crisis and better connect them to care," said Mayor Suzanne LaFrance. "Anchorage is the major hub for healthcare in our state, and this grant will reduce the strain on our emergency services and break down silos between local hospitals, clinics, shelters, and rural providers."

Funding will support six specialized initiatives across municipal departments, including expanded mobile crisis response teams, mobile opioid treatment, embedded behavioral health care in WIC clinics, and increasing the number of short-term assisted living beds for clients with complex needs.

The grant award represents the first year of a proposed three-year, $7 million investment to modernize and better connect Anchorage's crisis care network and clinicians with healthcare providers across the state.

Administered by the Alaska Department of Health, the RHTP supports targeted, community-driven health investments across Alaska. Anchorage's community serves as the state's primary healthcare and referral hub, providing essential medical care, behavioral health services, crisis care, and safety net services for residents across the municipality and neighboring areas.

The funding will primarily support efforts through the Anchorage Health Department (AHD), Anchorage Police Department (APD), and Anchorage Fire Department (AFD). The initiative will modernize electronic client records and improve information sharing across the Municipality's crisis care providers and clinicians, including those in the Fire Department's Mobile Crisis Team and CORE Team, and APD's Mobile Intervention Team and HOPE Team.

In addition to expanded and new pilot programs for emergency services, the funding will help:

• Connect records statewide: Clinical teams at the Anchorage Health Department, Anchorage Police Department, and Anchorage Fire Department will transition to electronic health records linked to HealthEConnect, Alaska's statewide health information exchange. This allows first responders and clinicians to securely share critical patient information with hospitals and statewide healthcare networks to ensure continuous, informed care.
• Improve care coordination: The Municipality will implement a referral and screening tool to help ensure individuals with complex health needs are connected directly to appropriate care, housing, and treatment.
• Inform future statewide Medicaid support: Data and health outcomes from these pilot projects will be evaluated and shared back with the State of Alaska. Successful programs can then be considered for inclusion in future Medicaid waiver programs, helping turn local pilot successes into long-term, statewide healthcare solutions.

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​Contact: Emily Goodykoontz [email protected] 1 (907) 205-6683

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