Ribbon-cutting held at new Sutton health care facility

Frontiersman staff report

WASILLA — Balloons surrounded Gary Harrison, Traditional Chief of the Chickaloon Village Traditional Council (CVTC), as he cut the ribbon for a new health facility in Sutton last Thursday.

The new Ahtnahwt’aene’ Nay’dini’aa den (Ahtna Chickaloon People Gathering Place) will house the expanded Life House Community Health Center as well as the CVTC’s health and social services department. The C’eyiits’ Hwnax Life House Community Health Center serves Native and non-native people from Palmer to Eureka, according to a press release issued by the Southcentral Foundation. The center also provides Veterans Affairs supported medical services.

According to the Southcentral Foundation’s Michael Doyle, the expanded facility includes several exam rooms, a talking room, a room for minor procedures, radiology services, dietician services and a telepharmacy. It also has a wellness center with an exercise area, locker rooms and showers and space for health education classes.

That’s a big step up from the old center, which consisted of an exam room and a talking room.

The new two-story building will house the CVTC’s Health and Social Services Department and will provide transportation services, elder’s programs and behavioral health and family services.

The CVTC governs the Chickaloon Native Village and its stated purpose is to “perpetuate their ancestors’ beliefs, customs, traditions and values, and steward the environment to help their citizens thrive,” according to a press release announcing the center’s opening. The tribal government operates seven departments that serve an estimated 2,400 Alaska Native and American Indian people living in its service area along the Matanuska River, which includes Glacier View, Chickaloon, Sutton, Palmer and the Butte.

Funding for the new center was provided by the CVTC, the Southcentral Foundation, the Rasmuson Foundation and the Mat-Su Health Foundation. The Southcentral Foundation is a Native-owned nonprofit health care organization established under the tribal authority of the Cook Inlet Region Incorporated (CIRI) in 1982 to improve the health and social conditions of Native people.

For more information about the new center, visit chickaloon.org or call 745-0704 for appointments.