Tribal Group Now Owns Alaska Native Medical Center

The federal government handed over the Alaska Native Medical Center to a tribal group on August 24th. The group is called the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. They had already been running the hospital together with another local foundation for years.

This consortium started as a nonprofit back in 1998. Today it provides health care to more than 175,000 Alaska Native and Indigenous people. Besides doctor visits, they also work on climate projects, wellness programs, research, and building water and sanitation systems. They are the biggest Native health organization in the country and manage many services that used to be run by the Indian Health Service.

The hospital itself has 182 beds and is the only Indian Health Service-owned building on the consortium’s Midtown campus. For a long time the consortium wanted to own the building outright. The facility had not gotten any bigger since it opened almost three decades ago, even though the number of patients has grown a lot. Leaders said owning the place will make it easier to invest in upgrades and give Native communities a stronger voice in their health care. The consortium’s board chair said this move fulfills a long‑held dream of tribal self‑determination.

Before taking ownership, the consortium’s board had already approved a $462 million expansion plan. The first step, which added more emergency‑department beds and space, began in 2024. A second step will add many new rooms and meeting areas. Now that they own the hospital, they can look for federal money, private loans, or donations to pay for the work. Officials said patients will see no big change in their care or eligibility, and staff will keep their jobs. A spokesperson said they could not answer more questions on Saturday. The ownership change comes a few months after the federal government agreed to pay the consortium $400 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit about unpaid reimbursement costs.

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