Jared C. Kosin
President & CEO
Celebrating
70 Years
2023 YEAR IN REVIEW
The Alaska Hospital & Healthcare Association has added members and expanded its scope since its founding in 1953, but remains committed to its original mission to connect, represent, and serve Alaska's healthcare facilities.
Today, AHHA acts as the backbone of a statewide healthcare network that encompasses all of Alaska’s 24 hospitals and 20 nursing homes and a growing number of behavioral health, assisted living, and home health and hospice partners throughout the state. An additional 30 corporations, foundations, provider groups, and other community organizations partner with us as associate members.
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​Working together, we accomplished a great deal in 2023. We navigated the growing demands on our workforce, heightened by Alaska's unique recruitment challenges and declining population. We doubled-down on addressing the gaps and delays in behavioral health services, especially for our youth. We stepped up to fight for policy and legislation that supports facilities' ability to provide high quality, accessible care and acted as a leading resource for legislators to work with on healthcare issues.
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This "year in review" shares some highlights of our collective wins in 2023, and the strategies and initiatives AHHA has employed to support members and promote Alaska's healthcare system.​
Our members say...
I’m consistently impressed with the outstanding performance of AHHA. Large, complex issues handled in an incredibly effective manner balancing numerous stakeholder needs.
AHHA has been a huge support and really listens to the needs of our facility.
I appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with peers at other facilities and have strength in numbers when issues arise at the State level.
advocacy
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Nurse Licensure Compact
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AHHA stood up a broad-based, statewide coalition of almost 80 entities pushing for Alaska to become the 42nd state or jurisdiction to join the multistate nurse licensure compact.
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We're poised to resume efforts to get legislation passed in 2024.
Long-Term Care
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AHHA led the nursing home response to proposed minimum staffing requirements by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
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We attended the AHCA Congressional Briefing in Washington, DC advocating for improvements to federal CNA training penalties and minimum of 5 survey rule.
Liaison with the State
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In 2023, we worked with the State on behalf of our members to resolve countless issues including licensing approvals, variance reviews, DRG reimbursement implementation, Medicaid audits, coordination for complex patients, DSH reimbursement, the Medicaid fiscal agent transition, DME supplies, background checks, and passthrough funding.
Healthcare 101
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AHHA developed and hosted "Alaska Healthcare 101". This webinar series engaged nine statewide partners and stakeholders to provide an overview of the challenges and unique characteristics of Alaska's healthcare system for our state lawmakers.
Medicaid
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AHHA worked with partners on the Medicaid redetermination process to ensure eligible people did not lose coverage.
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We worked to identify solutions to the challenges impacting discharging patients who no longer need to be in the hospital.
funding & resources
$4,449,403
Secured in contracts and grants to be used directly in support of member workforce development (2022-2025.)
$3M: State of Alaska Department of Labor Workforce Development Contract
All the funding, aside from a small amount for AHHA staff wages and administrative costs, directly benefits members:
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Facility-led initiative awards
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Support for LPN training
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Wellness pilot project
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Staff training and professional development
$686,298: State Training & Employment Program (STEP), FY23 & FY24
The majority of funding passes through to directly reimburse members for costs associated with training CNAs. Funds also supported the creation and maintenance of alaskacna.org, a site and multi-media promotional campaign to recruit and retain CNAs.
$763,105: Good Jobs Challenge Grant
Funds are being used for the development of a marketing campaign and career platform, virtual healthcare career day, and expansion of healthcare apprenticeships. These efforts will be used to recruit and upskill healthcare workers to fill roles within member facilities across Alaska.
Child and Adolescent Behavioral Healthcare Improvement Project
AHHA commissioned this report to gather perspectives and data to be used in the development of recommendations and an actionable workplan to address the gaps and delays across the continuum of behavioral care.
2023 Alaska Healthcare Workforce Analysis
AHHA commissioned a third year of this report that includes data and analysis of Alaska healthcare jobs, earnings, wages, growth projections, and workforce demographics.
