SEARHC to build new health clinic in Klukwan
Care provider receives $400,000 for building
Some residents joke that you can't be very sick if you can get up the stairs at the Klukwan Health Clinic.
Mark Gorman, vice president of community health services for the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, said he has heard the joke and is hoping the ice on the external staircase and other problems at the clinic will be taken care of by end of next summer.
SEARHC, the regional Native health care provider, recently learned it will receive $400,000 for a new Klukwan clinic, Gorman said from his office in Sitka.
"We're hoping to mobilize a crew (to start construction) this winter," he said.
Klukwan, an unincorporated community on the north bank of the Chilkat River, has a population a little over 100. It is about 22 miles north of Haines.
The Alaska-based Rasmuson Foundation announced $19 million in grant awards to 33 nonprofit organizations statewide. Its $150,000 grant to SEARHC for the Klukwan Clinic matches $250,000 from the Denali Commission, a federal and state entity.
In addition to better access, the clinic itself needs of an upgrade, Gorman said.
Dr. David Vastola in Sitka said the clinic will have two examining rooms, an emergency room, space for dentistry, substance-abuse counseling and offices. The current clinic, he said, "doesn't provide confidentiality for patients."
The Rasmuson Foundation also awarded the Organized Village of Kake $22,198 for exercise equipment. The equipment will be available to community residents as part of a diabetes prevention program and for general wellness, said Gary Williams, executive director for the federally recognized tribal government. Kake, on Kupreanof Island, is about 95 miles southwest of Juneau.
Williams said staff worked with SEARHC in applying for the grant. Alaska Marine Lines donated shipping, and the local school district will help out with the total $25,000 purchase and will provide space.
Williams said he hopes to order the equipment within a week.
• Tony Carroll can be reached at tony.carroll@juneauempire.com.