CaresAs health care continues to evolve in Alaska and throughout the rest of the country, our commitment to provide care to all, especially the poor and vulnerable, is as important as ever. The Sisters of Providence who arrived in Nome 114 years ago brought a Mission of compassionate service to Alaska, and we are

honored to continue that Mission today.

As is the case with any important endeavor, the help of others is key to our ability to provide care in the communities we serve. Providence Health & Services Alaska is blessed to have community partners who share in our work and our commitment to help those in need.

Each year, we dedicate a portion of our earnings toward “community benefit.” Working alongside our partners, we strive to address the needs of Alaskans by improving access to affordable health care, educating people about healthy behaviors and preventive care,

and providing assistance to the homeless and those living in poverty. All of this is made possible by donors, caregivers, volunteers and many other Alaskans who share a commitment to our Mission.

This year’s Community Benefit Report includes stories that illustrate how Providence works with our partners to identify needs and provide care to communities throughout Alaska.

We feel privileged to continue the legacy of the Sisters of Providence and their commitment to provide compassionate care. A heartfelt thank-you to those who join us in this endeavor; your partnership makes it possible for us to provide service to the poor and vulnerable in Alaska.

Sincerely,

Bruce Lamoureux, chief executive Providence Health & Services Alaska

Continuing our Mission serving the poor and vulnerable

AL ASK A | 2015 COMMUNIT Y BENEFIT REPORT

ProvidenceIn 2015, Providence Health & Services Alaska provided more than $41.7 million in free and discounted care so that the uninsured and underinsured could receive health care. This charity care is only part of Providence’s total community benefit in Alaska, which totaled $70.2 million.

Lisa Caldera, program director at the Brother Francis Shelter, with John Hammarstron, a patient recuperating at the shelter.

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Creating healthier communities, togetherThe Providence Mission reaches out beyond the walls of care settings to touch lives in the places where relief, comfort and care are needed. Our community benefit spending is about addressing not just the patient and family but the total health of the community. Through programs and financial support, Providence’s community benefit connects families with preventive care to keep them healthy, fills gaps in community services and provides opportunities that bring hope in difficult times. These efforts are guided by an assessment of the needs of our community. (Read a summary of the community needs assessment at alaska.providence.org.)

We collaborate with social service and government agencies, charitable foundations, community organizations,

universities and many other partners to identify the greatest needs and create solutions together. In 2015, Providence provided $70.2 million in community benefit in Alaska. Through these programs and financial support, we strengthen the underlying health of our communities and open doors for our neighbors in need.

As a not-for-profit Catholic health care ministry, we embrace our responsibility to provide for the needs of communities we serve – especially for those who are poor and vulnerable. Providing care to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay, is at the core of the Providence Mission. In 2015, Providence provided $41.7 million in free and discounted care so the uninsured and underinsured could access health care.

WHERE WE SERVE Providence Health & Services Alaska continues a tradition of caring started by the Sisters of Providence more than 110 years ago during the Nome Gold Rush. Today the care and services Providence delivers spans from birth to end of life, to care for the whole person. Our comprehensive scope of services includes acute care, physician clinics, long-term and assisted living, palliative and hospice care, and home health. Our ministries are in Anchorage, Eagle River, Kodiak, Palmer, Seward and Valdez.

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FREE AND DISCOUNTED CARE FOR PATIENTS IN NEED: Financial assistance for those who are uninsured or underinsured or otherwise unable to pay for their health care

SUBSIDIZED SERVICES:

Clinical and social services provided despite a financial loss because it meets an identified need that is not met elsewhere in the community

EDUCATION AND RESEARCH PROGRAMS:

Subsidies for medical residency programs, nursing and other education, and medical research

COMMUNITY HEALTH, GRANTS AND DONATIONS:

Free services, such as patient education, health screenings, immunizations and support groups, as well as donations to community partners

UNFUNDED PORTION OF GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED MEDICAL CARE:

Difference between the cost of care and what is paid by state and federal government – does not include Medicare

2015 Community benefit spending

Giving to our communities

Unfunded portion of

government-sponsored

medical care

Free and discounted

care for patients in

need

Subsidized services

Education and research

programs

Community health, grants and donations

Total cost of care & services donated in 2015

Providence Health & Services Alaska

$3,720,898 $41,738,268 $4,466,063 $8,617,811 $11,731,747 $70,274,787

As a not-for-profit organization, Providence Health & Services Alaska received $66.9 million in federal, state and local tax exemptions in 2015. However, we provided $70 million back to the community, or $3.35 million in excess of our exemptions. In addition, there are taxes from which we are not exempt and must pay in the normal course of operations, just as any business in the community would. These totaled $21.4 million in 2015 and included taxes on non-exempt properties and payroll taxes.

Tax status benefit

O U R C O R E VA L U E S : R E S P E C T | C O M PA S S I O N | J U S T I C E | E X C E L L E N C E | S T E W A R D S H I P

$70.2 Total in millions

59%

17%

12%

7% 5%

$80M

$60M

$40M

$20M

$0M Total

Community BenefitTax PaidTax Benefit

$70.2

$21.4

$66.9

COMMUNITY VOICESTo view the web version of the 2015 Community Benefit Report, please visit our website at alaska.providence.org.

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Left to right:

Funding the future: Margie Mete, associate professor of the University of Alaska Anchorage Nursing Program in Kodiak, instructs her class in the emergency department at Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center.

Barbara Anderson, UAA Nursing instructor, teaches nursing student Stacy McCully at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage.

Nursing student Caryn Hafer listens at a morning meeting before rounds with fellow students at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage.

Funding the future UAA NURSING PROGRAM HELPS CREATE ALASKA’S CAREGIVERS OF TOMORROW

Rachel Leaman hangs on every word nurse Brian Guvenir, RN, says, scribbling in her notepad his instructions and advice. They stand outside the room of a patient in the Progressive Intensive Care Unit at Providence Alaska Medical Center, where Guvenir gives the daily bedside report. The report includes a medical assessment as well as details on who the person behind that door is – what she likes, her occupation, her level of family support, even her favorite food. Leaman, a University of Alaska Anchorage nursing student, writes it all down, absorbing in those critical moments the key to becoming a truly effective caregiver.

“If there is one thing they can get out of us, it’s to be critical thinkers,” Guvenir says. “We are teaching them that we not only treat the disease but we also treat the person.”

To help the program achieve its goal of producing high-quality caregivers, Providence Health & Services Alaska has provided annual funding for the program’s Anchorage and Kodiak campuses. Providence contributes $250,000 for the Anchorage campus, and its $50,000 contribution in Kodiak allows students there to learn on site while completing their nursing degrees both at home and in Anchorage.

“We are incredibly grateful to Providence for all of the support they have given us,” says Barbara Berner, ANP, director of the school of nursing at UAA. “They help to keep the program running.”

Berner says that since Providence’s support began in 2005, UAA’s nursing program has doubled its number of graduates to roughly 200 per year. In particular, the program has started pinpointing Alaska’s greatest areas of need for caregivers and has expanded to include such rural areas as Kotzebue, Bethel, Nome and Sitka. While still based in Anchorage, nursing students can split time while living and working in up to 14 rural communities.

“We have about a 12 percent vacancy rate for nurses in rural areas, and a 7-to-8 percent rate in Anchorage,” she says. “By allowing our students to practice in these rural areas, we are connecting them to places that need them.”

On Kodiak Island, access to health care is critical. Providence’s support there allows aspiring nurses to learn via distance education, on-site mentoring and classroom instruction delivered by instructors both locally and in Anchorage.

“Providence has been very instrumental in providing funding for the program,” says Kathleen Stephenson, associate professor of nursing at UAA who helps oversee rural programs, including Kodiak, which is one of the largest. Providence’s support, Stephenson says, helps pay the salary of its on-site instructor, Margie Mete, as well as provide technical support for distance learning.

“The students from rural areas travel to Anchorage and spend two to three semesters at UAA,” Stephenson says.

“Some work is done at Providence and some in other hospitals in the state, in communities where they live, which is crucial.”

Stephenson says she especially likes when she has students whose goals are to ultimately stay in their home communities.

“We recently had a student who is coming in from the Bush who has already decided she wants to work in pediatric oncology,” Stephenson says. “This girl is destined to be a pediatric oncology nurse. We called Providence and asked if they would help and they said ‘yes,’ and we were able to set it up. They’ve been very generous to the students.”

Leaman, the nursing student in PAMC’s Progressive Care Unit, is one of nine young women who began their on-site rotations in late February. They gather in Providence’s cafeteria to wait for their Anchorage instructor, Barb Anderson, to arrive and share stories about their “case” files – assignments on specific patients they were to have studied the night before. A sense of excitement radiates at the table as the students finally get to practice what they’ve been studying for so long.

“Sometimes I feel a little nervous, but it’s an exciting nervous,” says Samantha Trainor, a nursing student. “I’m ready to finally take that big step out of the classroom and into the real world.”

Stepping in the right direction SQORD PROGRAM GETS KIDS MOVING WITH AN INTERACTIVE, ONLINE PLATFORM

Dan Pemble’s physical education students at Baxter Elementary School run, jump and squeal with laughter. As music plays, they do exercises that are written on small sheets of paper and randomly drawn from a cart set up at one end of the room.

Every move these kids make is being recorded. Each time an arm shakes or a stride is taken, the devices they are wearing record it and earn them points that turn everyday play into friendly competition. It’s a program designed to encourage healthy habits in Alaska’s kids.

“We are careful not to call these trackers,” says Providence Regional Director Micaela Jones of the Sqord Active Play Program devices that are being distributed to schoolchildren in Anchorage, Seward and Kodiak. “It’s the kids’ version of a Fitbit, and it scores their movement, it doesn’t track it. What we find is that the more points the kids earn, the more they want to move.”

The program is funded by a $320,000 investment from Providence Health & Services Alaska, a $20,000 contribution from Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska and coordination among Providence staff, Healthy Futures, Alaska’s Department of Obesity Prevention and Control, and school districts in Anchorage, Kodiak and the Kenai Peninsula. Researchers at University of Alaska Anchorage’s Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) also are involved, conducting a long-term study to examine the Sqords’ efficacy on reducing childhood obesity. The goal is not only to increase physical activity in children, but also to encourage the

desire to take part in physical activity in children. According to the state, 31 percent of Alaska’s high school aged children are overweight or obese. The goal of the Sqords is to help reduce that statistic.

At the beginning, Jones says, she had boxes of Sqords and nowhere to start. So, naturally, she looked to her own children.

“I decided, ‘I’m going to strap them on my kids and see what they think,’” she says, “and what happened very quickly is that they actually wanted to play together. They were getting points for all their movement and it became a game.”

From there, the project blossomed. The program went from a handful of Anchorage schools to 35, and then another 17 schools came on-board. Today there are approximately 65 Anchorage schools whose students have been given Sqord devices and who are charting their activity. There are four more schools in Kodiak and one in Seward participating as well. In total, more than 9,700 units are in circulation.

The Sqord works like a mobile video game – part Wii gaming system, part exercise tracker and part motivator. Each user has an identification number and avatar – their online persona that they create at the click of a button. When they start playing, the device automatically records their movements, accumulating 3.5 points per step. Users also collect “sqoins,” a form of pretend money that kids can use to buy virtual accessories for their avatars. Each school is assigned its own community, so users

from one school can compare their activity to another school.

At Baxter, sixth-grader Keiara Alexander, 11, darts around the room balancing a plastic ball on a paddle as part of the class’s lesson on racquet sports.

“I think of the Sqord as a way to keep you healthy,” she says. “It keeps you honest. My parents like that I have it because they know it makes me want to do more. I’m in cheerleading, dance and soccer, so I always have lots of points.”

Pemble says providing the Sqords has been simple for him because Jones is managing the maintenance, support and upkeep of the devices. As a busy P.E. teacher at two Anchorage schools, he knows he wouldn’t have time otherwise. All he and his students have to do is wear them, and download their activity at their leisure or on portable devices set up throughout the schools for those who do not own computers at home.

“We knew that these teachers already do so much, it absolutely couldn’t happen if they had to do one more thing,” Jones says. “We couldn’t ask them to take over.”

Perhaps the best part of the program, Jones says, is ISER’s long-term study to see if the Sqords really make a difference. After all, that is the ultimate goal: to reduce childhood obesity and create healthy habits that will last a lifetime.

“This is bringing technology and movement in the same conversation, and that’s a step in the right direction,” she says.

Left to right:

Stepping in the right direction: A student at Northstar Elementary School in Kodiak gives his Sqord activity tracker a good workout on the school playground.

Dan Pemble, a physical education teacher, displays his Sqord with students at Baxter Elementary School in Anchorage.

Students exercise with their Sqord activity trackers at Baxter Elementary School in Anchorage.

Finding their voices: A student takes advantage of on-site behavioral health services at Begich Middle School in Anchorage.

Denise Brakora, BSN, NCSN, school nurse at Begich Middle School, and Heather Ireland, program director for the clinic, in the school examining room.

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Finding their voices BEHAVIORAL HEALTH PROGRAM HELPS MIDDLE-SCHOOLERS THRIVE

When Providence Health & Services Alaska helped fund the setup of on-site behavioral health services at one of Anchorage’s middle schools, its goal was to provide access to affordable health care for young people struggling with mental health issues. A year later, the results have proven to be even more successful than organizers could have imagined.

“This is a place where they can talk about things that they can’t talk about with other people,” says Volunteers of America clinician Pam Shepherd, who sees patients each week. “A lot of times that is all they need; someone to listen to them. It helps them see that people are seeing them beyond their problems.”

That is the program’s goal, says Heather Ireland, program director for the clinic.

“These kids have true mental health needs,” Ireland says. “This gives them a convenient and affordable way to get help without it interfering with their school days.”

Last year, Providence provided $50,000 for the startup at Begich Middle School after seeing success with a similar program at Clark Middle School that has been in place since 2010. The Clark program focuses on treating physical ailments such as ear infections and colds, but Ireland says that when children there were referred for counseling services, the follow-through oftentimes didn’t happen.

“That’s when we thought it might be a good idea to offer behavioral health services,” she adds.

At Begich, qualifying participants receive services on a sliding-fee scale. The services provided help them deal with issues ranging from anger management to depression to anxiety. Here, kids can begin to heal while missing minimal class time.

The on-site location also has freed up working parents, Ireland adds. Most parents are grateful for a place where their child can receive help without having to leave school grounds or take away from a parent’s time on the job.

On a recent Thursday morning, Shepherd prepares to meet with one of her patients. She sets up in a room near the front office that has been transformed into a private refuge. A large whiteboard is covered with phrases and tips on how to cope with emotions, and a table in the corner is circled with wobbly stools, designed as such to help jittery kids settle their nerves. Sometimes, the kids might just talk; other times, they may write down their emotions. Games and other activities – such as a sand-garden to help calm nerves – line the shelves, accessible if the moment commands it.

“Trauma is one of the main items these kids are facing,” Shepherd says. “This is at least a starting point to help them find ways to deal with it.”

Providence’s Mission to serve the poor and vulnerable is exemplified in the work that goes on here. It pinpoints a small but much-needed population. For children who were once troubled students and continually in the principal’s, nurse’s or counselor’s offices, the program now gives them a platform for expression.

“The kids who often find their way in the program are in here all the time,” says school nurse Denise Brakora, BSN, NCSN of her examining room. “But as they learn coping skills, we don’t see them as often. They are figuring out how to successfully express themselves. In a perfect world, this would be in all the schools.”

Ireland says the program has successfully helped more than 25 kids since it began. Slowly but surely, she is seeing progress.

“Providence’s funding has given us the ability to grow the program slowly and make sure we get it right,” Ireland says.

For Shepherd, the program is about giving young people the tools to cope – not just with the challenges of middle school, but also the hard realities of life.

“If we can get them successfully through eighth grade,” she says, “they are going to have a better chance at graduation.”

WHAT THE NUMBERS SHOW

Since Begich Middle School began its behavioral health clinic on campus in 2015, Heather Ireland, program director, says the results have been encouraging. Among her findings after treatment:

Kids in treatment were 11 times more likely to get to their first-hour classes on time;

They were present an average of 27 more class periods;

They were on time for classes 50 percent more often;

76.5 percent of students in treatment said they felt better able to handle themselves at school;

70.6 percent said they felt better able to get along with their peers; and

62.5 percent said they felt their quality of life has improved.

Left to right:

One child at a time: Karin Hardy, an occupational therapist, plays with Rosemary Youngblood in the speech and occupational therapy room at Providence Seward Mountain Haven.

Nourishing newborns: Heather Preece, Kodiak KINDNESS project coordinator, visits with Joelina Panamarioff and her youngest son Lance, at Joelina's home in Kodiak.

New parents Anthony Castell and Janet Lyons hold their newborn daughter, Neira, at Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center.

Rest and recovery: John Hammarstron, a patient recuperating at the Brother Francis Shelter, talks with Deborah Seidl, director of In-Home Services at Providence.

One child at a time THERAPY SERVICES HELP SEWARD KIDS RECEIVE CARE THEY NEED

Rosemary Youngblood bounds into the Speech and Occupational therapy room at Providence Seward Mountain Haven, her flyaway hair in multiple braids and a big smile on her face. She’s heading straight for a rehabilitation ladder and hops up the steps, counting 1-2-3 until she reaches the platform. Then, back down she goes: Hop-hop-hop, 1-2-3. She is a rambunctious, active 3-year-old, who talks constantly.

It’s welcome behavior after more than a year of therapy. Diagnosed on the autism spectrum, Rosemary barely spoke a year ago. Now she is a “chatty Cathy.”

“When her mother told me, ‘Rosemary is driving me crazy, she just won’t stop talking,’ I told her, ‘It’s like a speech pathologist’s dream.’ It was the best news I could have had,” says Lila Hurst, a speech pathologist and supervisor of Rehabilitation Services at Seward Providence Medical Center and Seward Mountain Haven, a long-term care facility in Seward that also offers outpatient services for clients of all ages.

In the small seaside community of Seward, Rosemary is benefitting from a partnership between Providence Health & Services Alaska and the Infant Learning Program, operated under the auspices of SeaView Community Services. This was one of many community benefit programs supported by Providence in 2015.

Babies and toddlers suspected of having special needs such as autism, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome, are initially evaluated. Educational and Rehabilitation specialists then help families navigate the often-scary path of seeking out the best care for their kids. Sometimes, the children only have minor speech impediments; sometimes it’s more serious.

“We work together with families to find the right relationships and the right kind of care for their children,” said PJ Hatfield-Bauer, director of the Infant Learning Program. “A lot of times, they don’t have the income to find the right help or the knowledge of where to look.”

Where Providence comes in is a specialized, reduced-rate therapy program. Once Hatfield-Bauer identifies a child who would benefit from such services such as speech or occupational therapy, she reaches out to Providence. Therapists at Providence then provide further evaluation and assist in finding a definitive diagnosis, which helps families navigate the insurance systems for potential reimbursement of services. A big part of their job also is in educating parents, who can be overwhelmed when presented with a serious diagnosis.

“We only charge for the initial evaluation and even that is a minimal charge,” Hurst says. “If the child needs additional therapy, Providence will then absorb the cost.”

On this chilly March morning, Rosemary does not disappoint in bringing smiles to her caregivers. Chattering a mile a minute, Hurst and the occupational therapist, Karin Hardy, work to get the little girl to focus – guiding her to a foam mat in one of the therapy rooms, where she will look through picture books and work with moldable, tactile clay that helps children on the autism spectrum get used to differing sensations.

“When she first came here, she was just under 2 and she was unable to speak, had no language and did not look you in the eyes,” Hatfield-Bauer says. “Now look at her. It’s amazing.

“PJ and I, when we work with these kids, they just melt our hearts,” Hurst adds.

Living in a small community makes it even more important to have a village-to-raise-a-child mentality, Hurst and Hatfield-Bauer agrees. Providence, in its continued efforts to offer compassionate care, is doing just that. Visits with Rosemary have become a high point of their week, and they are amazed at her progress. She is one of countless success stories they like to celebrate at Providence Seward.

“These kids really impact our lives,” Hurst continues. “Our motivation is when you see them thriving. It’s a huge and important job that we do, and we love it.”

Nourishing newborns PROGRAM HELPS NEW MOTHERS NAVIGATE NURSING AND NUTRITION FOR THEIR BABIES

Even after her third child was born, Joelina Panamarioff knew she would need the services of Kodiak KINDNESS – a local organization dedicated to helping new mothers nourish their newborns. The group helped her get used to nursing after her first son was born. When her second son was born after an emergency C-section and then spent 10 days in the newborn intensive care unit, KINDNESS was there again.

“He was tube fed and bottle-fed, so it was really hard for us to bond later,” Panamarioff says. “And when my third son was born, he had a deep palate and it was very difficult. I’ve had different circumstances with each baby, and every time she knew what to do. … It actually makes me pretty emotional, because she’s always been there.”

The “she” to whom Panamarioff refers

is Heather Preece, a registered dietitian and lactation consultant who developed the idea 10 years ago and now operates Kodiak KINDNESS thanks in part to yearly contributions from Providence Health & Services Alaska and donations to Providence Alaska Foundation. Preece began her career in Kodiak coordinating the Women Infants and Children Program. At the time, she said she knew the technical side of nourishing babies

(continued on next page)

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Nourishing newborns, continued from page 6

– but it wasn’t until she had her own children that she fully understood what motherhood is all about.

“I was a trained lactation professional and dietitian, but in 2000 when I had my own first baby, I realized how challenging it can really be,” Preece says. A friend with her own three children had offered to help Preece, as she navigated the challenges of feeding an infant.

“So in the middle of that night when I was beside myself, and I felt so incompetent as a mom, I called her and she came over and she helped me, and that really brought it home for me,” Preece says.

Kodiak KINDNESS (the KIND stands for Kodiak Infant Nutrition and Development) is available to all families with infants in Kodiak, regardless of income or insurance status. It is easy to

register and doesn’t cost a cent. New parents are initially visited in the hospital, and calls continue at set times for up to 18 months after baby is born. Parents can call a “warm-line” at any time for same-day hands-on help. In 2015, 176 families were enrolled in the program, with nearly 65 percent of them receiving in-home visits as needed.

“We see everybody regardless of feeding choice,” Preece says. “Certainly people have problems and we want to be there to help whenever they need us. Women quit if they are in pain or they are not sure if their babies are getting enough milk. By helping new mothers at critical times, we are seeing good results.”

Panamarioff says she believes all three of her sons benefitted from Kodiak KINDNESS’ services. Not only are they growing up healthy, but she also feels

more confident about the quality and quantity of nutrition they received at a young age.

“I was in new-mom thinking mode when he was first born,” she says of her son, John, now 6. “It’s a fragile new baby, you don’t know what to do and you’re scared. I think people think, ‘Oh, you just put the baby to your boob,’ but it’s not that easy. I don’t give up very easily, but I think I would have given up earlier if I didn’t have their help.”

Preece stresses that Kodiak KINDNESS is not just for mothers who want to breastfeed, it’s a comprehensive nutrition program designed to keep babies well-nourished regardless of feeding choice.

“No matter what, we just want babies to grow up to be healthy,” she says.

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Rest and recovery A SAFE PLACE TO RECUPERATE HELPS HOMELESS PATIENTS HEAL

For more than a month, John Hammarstron felt a pain in his abdomen that never seemed to subside. He thought it might be a stomach bug, or maybe something to do with what he ate, or maybe even stress. He worked two jobs and had a place to live, but it was a struggle, always a struggle.

Soon, the pain became so bad Hammarstron couldn’t work, and when he couldn’t work, he couldn’t afford to pay his rent. When he couldn’t afford to pay his rent, he ended up on the streets.

“I thought it was just a bellyache,” Hammarstron says, “but a buddy of mine said I should go to the doctor, so I went to the ER. They took X-rays and an oncologist came in and said, ‘It’s not good; you have cancer.’ ”

Fortunately for Hammarstron, Providence and Brother Francis Shelter could help. In 2015, Providence Health & Services

Alaska made a $500,000 donation to Catholic Social Services to create a safe place for homeless patients to recuperate from serious illnesses. Brother Francis provides the living quarters for qualified patients, and Providence monitors the patients’ care with home health care nurses, social workers and other health care professionals who visit as needed.

“We had a number of patients who are sick and they are homeless,” says Deborah Seidl, director of in-home services at Providence. “If they had a bed for 24 hours a day instead of a shelter they have to leave every morning, we thought it would help with the healing. When their bodies are deconditioned, they can’t heal. When they are cold, they can’t heal. This offers another option.”

Lisa Caldeira, program director at Brother Francis Shelter, says the program is being operated on a very small scale so organizers can develop it properly. In a

back section of the shelter, there are a few rooms, set up dorm-style, that can house residents around the clock.

“They need that rest most people would get if they were at home,” Caldeira says,

“but they don’t have a home. Here, they are given a room, access to bathrooms where they can shower, and care from nurses who can visit them every day, although it’s usually less than that.”

Hammarstron came to the shelter in late 2015. The pancreatic cancer he is battling is taking a toll on him physically, he says, but he feels better equipped to fight the disease with the extra care he is receiving.

“I’m trying to keep good thoughts,” he says. “I do a lot of praying. The shelter, and Providence, and especially Bethany Burgess, my social worker, have been treating me with nothing but kindness and respect.”

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Happy wheels: The van has a manual ramp and can fit several residents inside. Residents can get rides to appointments, go grocery shopping or join their families for special events.

2015 Providence boards and councils

Happy wheels VALDEZ VAN HELPS LONG-TERM CARE RESIDENTS LIVE LIFE

Sherikay Griffith loves her job – and the residents of Providence Valdez Medical Center’s long-term care facility. So, when she and her co-workers were presented with a wheelchair-accessible passenger van – complete with a red bow – at Christmas last year, it was the greatest gift ever. And it’s not even hers.

“Residents still want to be part of the community, and they still want to spend time with their family,” Griffith says. “And now they can. Now they have wheels.”

The purchase of the new van, which was made possible by $45,000 of generous community donations to the Providence Alaska Foundation, was the result of Providence Health & Services Alaska recognizing the need for more services for its residents. Because the majority of the long-term care patients in its facility are mobility challenged, getting them to destinations and activities can be difficult.

“That van is used every day,” Griffith says. “If the residents want to go shopping, we can take them. If several of them are having dentist appointments, we can get them there. Without this van, they would not be able to go.”

Once, Griffith says, she was driving one of the residents through town to run some errands when they came upon the resident’s extended family, out for a picnic by the water’s edge. They were able to “pop-in,” much to the family’s delight.

For Natasha Latta, the van is about the residents maintaining a certain dignity and self-sufficiency, knowing that they have some say in how their days are spent. It’s also about letting them continue to be a part of their community.

Before the Valdez van, residents had to limited access to a town-operated van,

or had to call on family and friends to help. And while family were often willing, they were not able to safely get their wheelchair-bound family members out.

“This van is just amazing; it has a manual ramp and we can fit several residents inside,” Latta says. The van operated by the city worked in a pinch, Latta says,

“but it was loud and large and rattly and we couldn’t hear each other.”

Also, Latta adds, it wasn’t available at a moment’s notice like their new one is. Appointments had to be made well in advance and it didn’t fit as many residents inside. Now, an impromptu drive to enjoy a sunny day is as simple as a phone call.

“I try to tell anybody, ‘If you want to do something special just let me know,’ and I’ll make sure they are there,” Griffith says. “I can’t impress upon the community our gratefulness for the van, it’s such an essential.”

Latta agrees.

“It’s been an absolute blessing and huge contribution to the quality of life for our residents,” she says. “We could not be more thankful.”

©2016 Providence Health & Services. All rights reserved.

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Housing and assisted living

Physician services

Behavioral health services

Child day care centers

Home health and hospice services

Medical laboratory services

Freestanding outpatient services

Providence Alaska Community Ministry BoardKathy J. Anderson, MPH, PhDSarah BartonTimothy Bateman, M.D.Pat Branson, KodiakDouglas Capra, SewardChristopher Dyke, M.D.Joseph FaulhaberAlice GalvinKathy Hurlburt, M.D.Christine Kramer, ANPBruce Lamoureux, SVP/CE, PH&SAT. Noah Laufer, M.D.Stewart Osgood, PEArchbishop Roger L. Schwietz, OMIPamela Shirrell, RN, secretarySteven Smith, M.D.John (Chris) Swalling, chairStanley Watkins, M.D.Lon Wilson

Providence Alaska Foundation BoardPhil CochraneTom Falskow, treasurerCynthia GoughGrace GreeneScott HabberstadBruce Lamoureux, SVP/CE PH&SADonna Logan, secretary Mardy LowerMartin Parsons

Greg Pearce, vice chairGlenn PetersonPaul Peterson, M.D.V RaeKimberly Reitmeier, past chairSuzanne Rudolph, foundation presidentStacy SchubertJack Sedwick, M.D.Casey Sullivan, chairRyan WagnerScott Wellmann, M.D.

Providence Anchorage Advisory CouncilRichard Baird, PhDTerriLee BartlettCheryl BowersClaire ChanRobert DicksonSusan DiMaggioSezy Gerow-Hanson, vice chairPatricia HamiltonMike Humphrey, chairKaren HuntMark KortingRichard Mandsager, M.D., chief executive, PAMCTracy MorrisMadelyn Schlansker