Legislature(2023 - 2024)BARNES 124
03/14/2023 08:00 AM House COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
Note: the audio ![]()
and video ![]()
recordings are distinct records and are obtained from different sources. As such there may be key differences between the two. The audio recordings are captured by our records offices as the official record of the meeting and will have more accurate timestamps. Use the icons to switch between them.
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearing(s)|| Regulatory Commission of Alaska | |
| HB78 | |
| HB30 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| *+ | HB 78 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 30 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 78-AK COMMUNITY HEALTH AIDE APPRECIATION DAY
8:23:28 AM
CHAIR MCCORMICK announced that the next order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 78, "An Act establishing September 10 as
Alaska Community Health Aide Appreciation Day."
8:23:42 AM
CALLAN CHYTHLOOK-SIFSOF, Staff, Representative CJ McCormick,
Alaska State Legislature, provided her background and personal
connection to the health aide community before presenting HB 78
on behalf of Representative CJ McCormick, prime sponsor. She
explained the Community Health Aide Program is unique to the
state and was established out of necessity for many of the rural
communities across the state, and the role is very complex.
Community health aides are often on call all hours and are
critical to coordination for doctors and nurses traveling to
rural villages. In the 1950s, during the tuberculosis epidemic,
the profession began out of necessity to ensure that medication
and medical care was received in rural communities. September
10 commemorates the first Planning and Advisory Committee
meeting for Health Aide Programs in Alaska.
8:26:35 AM
MS. CHYTHLOOK-SIFSOF continued to synopsize HB 78 by briefly
following a 9-page PowerPoint, titled "HB 78 Establishing Alaska
Community Health Aide Appreciation Day," showing visuals of the
discussion so far. She reiterated that community health aides
are the "trust" for a lot of Alaska in the medical care system,
and she thanked the committee for its time.
8:29:18 AM
CHAIR MCCORMICK invited the committee to provide questions at
this time.
8:29:30 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE asked for an idea of what the training
involves, and if there are wages, who pays them.
8:29:53 AM
MS. CHYTHLOOK-SIFSOF replied that the Community Health
Aide/Practitioner (CHAP) training is fairly expensive and
consists of weeks of training at one of four hubs: [typically]
Anchorage, Bethel, Nome, or Fairbanks. In response to a follow-
up question, she explained wages for aides depend on each
community, and sometimes they will not receive pay for all the
time they are on call.
8:31:55 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MEARS expressed her privilege to have worked for
the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium early in her career,
and explained she was able to see firsthand the facilities and
the care provided to communities. She stated she strongly
supports HB 78.
8:32:28 AM
REPRESENTATIVE RUFFRIDGE asked for a description of what a day
looks like for a health aide.
8:33:12 AM
MS. CHYTHLOOK-SIFSOF spoke of her personal knowledge through her
mother's work as a health aide. She explained the close work
with the Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) in the village,
stating that the aide and VSPO were the primary responsibility
for all crises; aides not only provide medical attention but are
also part of the law and order in a community. Health aides are
sometimes required to go house to house if a village does not
have a clinic - from helping the elderly, to responding to
trauma.
8:34:41 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT asked if health aides are mandatory
reporters.
8:35:05 AM
MS. CHYTHLOOK-SIFSOF replied there are some members from the
CHAP program present who could better address the question.
8:35:22 AM
CHAIR MCCORMICK welcomed invited testifiers.
8:35:47 AM
JESSICA HYATT, Community Relations Advocate, Guardian Flight
Alaska, gave invited testimony in support of HB 78 on behalf of
Alaska Community Health Aides, as they work shoulder to shoulder
with Guardian Flight Alaska on a daily basis. She explained
Alaska pioneered the CHAP program, and the work of the aides is
tireless and around the clock. As stated prior, September 10 is
a significant date to give recognition where recognition is due.
8:39:23 AM
CAROLYN CRAIG, Director, Community Health Aide Program, gave
invited testimony in support of HB 78 and provided her
background. She described the CHAP program as unique, amazing,
and proven effective at providing culturally competent and
quality healthcare for remote and underserved areas throughout
Alaska. She noted 15 weeks is the total training an aide must
complete and is broken down into four sessions. In 2015, a
distance learning program for basic training had been started,
and this has allowed students to complete portions of their
training at home and minimize their time away. The program has
also gained both national and international attention. She
explained that health aides deal with many hardships that remain
unheard and it is a "24/7" job. She thanked the committee and
will remain online to answer any questions.
8:45:22 AM
JENNY BROWN, Instructor, Tanana Chiefs Conference, provided a
brief background, and explained her time working with many rural
and under-resourced medical providers, compared to other parts
of the state. She stated the group that gains the most respect
from her are the community health aides, as their situation
varies greatly from region to region but the underlying scene is
that they provide the essential medical care to the villages
without any advanced degrees. She encouraged the committee to
establish an annual Community Health Aide Recognition Day that
will remind Alaskans to acknowledge these health care providers.
8:47:53 AM
ASELA CALHOUN, Director, Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation,
provided a brief background and expressed her fondness for the
CHAP program and for the work of health aides. She described
personal connections with many health aide workers and
recognized the tremendous amount of work they do - and how well
they do it. She gave an overview of communities served, and a
brief breakdown of which ones also have a clinic. She
reiterated that the program has become a model that is imitated
nationwide, and she stated it is fitting that community health
aides be recognized as the pillars of health care in remote
Alaska and honored with a day of recognition.
8:52:48 AM
MS. CALHOUN continued and gave examples of survey outcomes,
noting that the program is widely described as "a very personal
and deeply held tradition for the community." She also noted
that being an aide is generational; children become aides
because their parents were aides, and so on. It is a pattern
that has been repeated multiple times. In closing, she offered
her wholehearted support of HB 78 and dedicating a day of
recognition to community health aides.
8:56:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT reiterated her question as to whether
health aides are mandatory reporters.
8:56:16 AM
MS. CALHOUN replied yes, they are, just like any other health
professional.
8:56:35 AM
CHAIR MCCORMICK thanked the invited testifiers.
8:56:50 AM
The committee took an at-ease from 8:56 a.m. to 8:58 a.m.
8:58:27 AM
CHAIR MCCORMICK announced that HB 78 was held over.