Post by Okwes on Sept 24, 2007 8:48:36 GMT -5
'We honor and respect our own'
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) -- American Indians will have better health care
when they are able to provide the services themselves, the president of
a large Alaska Native health care foundation said Thursday.
Doing so will allow them more control and reduce their dependence on the
federal government, said Katherine Gottlieb, president and CEO of the
Southcentral Foundation, which provides health care to more than 45,000
Alaska Natives and American Indians.
Health care also will improve when Indians "own" their own medical
services, she said.
"We honor and respect our own," Gottlieb said. "Now that our care is in
our own hands, we treat it with respect."
Gottlieb was one of the speakers at a Missoula health care conference
put on by Indian People's Action and the Montana/Wyoming Tribal Leaders
Association. Health care providers, hospital and clinic administrators,
tribal leaders, and academic and community leaders attended the
gathering to discuss the state of Indian health care in Montana.
Montana's Indian population suffers higher rates of disease, death and
infant mortality than other populations. But the Southcentral Foundation
is turning similar statistics around in Alaska by focusing on prevention
and wellness, Gottlieb and Dr. Ted Mala said.
"We're especially interested in prevention," said Mala, director of
tribal relations and traditional healing at the foundation.
He added that the foundation bases its treatment on traditional culture,
including the use of traditional medicine.
The Southcentral Foundation has been around for 25 years. Before that,
health care was handled by the federal Indian Health Service.
Gottlieb said health care has improved since Alaska's many tribes came
together to run their own health care program in southcentral Alaska,
which includes Anchorage.
The foundation draws about 45 percent of its budget from IHS but
controls how that money is spent, Gottlieb said. It has created a health
care system that is responsive, culturally sensitive, proactive and more
likely to promote independence over dependence, she said.
The foundation now has more than 1,200 employees and provides more than
65 medical and behavioral health services. The client, working with
doctors and other health care providers, dictates how treatment will
progress, Gottlieb said.
"Our providers listen, and we tell them what we need," she said. "It's a
conclusion reached by everyone involved."
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) -- American Indians will have better health care
when they are able to provide the services themselves, the president of
a large Alaska Native health care foundation said Thursday.
Doing so will allow them more control and reduce their dependence on the
federal government, said Katherine Gottlieb, president and CEO of the
Southcentral Foundation, which provides health care to more than 45,000
Alaska Natives and American Indians.
Health care also will improve when Indians "own" their own medical
services, she said.
"We honor and respect our own," Gottlieb said. "Now that our care is in
our own hands, we treat it with respect."
Gottlieb was one of the speakers at a Missoula health care conference
put on by Indian People's Action and the Montana/Wyoming Tribal Leaders
Association. Health care providers, hospital and clinic administrators,
tribal leaders, and academic and community leaders attended the
gathering to discuss the state of Indian health care in Montana.
Montana's Indian population suffers higher rates of disease, death and
infant mortality than other populations. But the Southcentral Foundation
is turning similar statistics around in Alaska by focusing on prevention
and wellness, Gottlieb and Dr. Ted Mala said.
"We're especially interested in prevention," said Mala, director of
tribal relations and traditional healing at the foundation.
He added that the foundation bases its treatment on traditional culture,
including the use of traditional medicine.
The Southcentral Foundation has been around for 25 years. Before that,
health care was handled by the federal Indian Health Service.
Gottlieb said health care has improved since Alaska's many tribes came
together to run their own health care program in southcentral Alaska,
which includes Anchorage.
The foundation draws about 45 percent of its budget from IHS but
controls how that money is spent, Gottlieb said. It has created a health
care system that is responsive, culturally sensitive, proactive and more
likely to promote independence over dependence, she said.
The foundation now has more than 1,200 employees and provides more than
65 medical and behavioral health services. The client, working with
doctors and other health care providers, dictates how treatment will
progress, Gottlieb said.
"Our providers listen, and we tell them what we need," she said. "It's a
conclusion reached by everyone involved."