Valley resident recognized with Bert Hall Award

WASILLA — Local resident Rachel Greenberg was recently recognized with the Mat-Su Health Foundation’s Bert Hall Award for Commitment to the Health of the Community. The “Bertie” is an annual recognition presented by the foundation to an individual who consistently exemplifies commitment to working at the systems level to improve the health and wellness of Mat-Su residents.

“Rachel has been a leader, a collaborator, and an advocate over the last 25 years to improve access to services for older adults, not only in Mat-Su, but across Alaska,” said Mat-Su Health Foundation CEO Elizabeth Ripley. “She served as the deputy executive director and later the executive director of Mat-Su Senior Services, where she helped to grow a solid organization positioned to respond to the needs of older Alaskans.”

While working at Mat-Su Senior Services, Rachel led the organization to add housing, care coordination services, adult day care and multiple facilities. She also shared her expertise with the other senior centers in Mat-Su and collaborated with them to form the Mat-Su Council on Aging. In 2012, Rachel took up the charge laid out in the Mat-Su Health Foundation’s 2011 Regional Plan for the Delivery of Senior Services and began a yearlong advocacy effort to establish an Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) in Mat-Su. She has served on the Alaska Commission on Aging since 2012 and on AgeNet, Alaska’s advocacy group for older residents.

The Bert Hall Award is named in honor of Mat-Su resident Bert Hall, who helped put together the Valley Hospital Foundation Board of Directors and has been a Mat-Su Regional Medical Center Trustee. Bert has also served Alaska in many other capacities, including as a Mat-Su Regional Medical Center board member, associate director of the US Department of Veterans Affairs, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Health and Human Services, director of health and social services for the Municipality of Anchorage, and as the Alaska liaison to the US Department of Health and Human Services. Bert has been president of the Alaska Public Health Association, represented Alaska on the Governing Council of the American Public Health Association, and served on the Alaska Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.