Laurence May

SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC)

For more than 40 years, SEARHC has provided high-quality healthcare services for the residents of the Southeast Alaska region. SEARHC is committed to making a difference in the lives of people and bridging gaps in healthcare services to enhance the quality of life for the people in the communities it serves. One of the many ways SEARHC does this is by offering specialty clinics or sending medical specialists to various remote facilities to care for patients who cannot travel to Anchorage or Seattle and need services not available in Southeast Alaska. Additionally, our medical providers make regular trips to the smaller, remote clinics to provide services typically not available. Founded in 1975, SEARHC is one of the oldest and largest Native-run health organizations in the nation. In 1976, SEARHC contracted with the Indian Health Service under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act to assume management of the Community Health Aide Program. In 1982, the contract was expanded to include the operations of the Indian Health Service Juneau clinic, now called the Ethel Lund Medical Center, and in 1986, SEARHC assumed operation of the Sitka Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital (MEH). Today, SEARHC has 964 employees, operates in 27 communities and has one hospital. MEH, a 25-bed critical access hospital with 458 employees, provides acute care, critical care, obstetrics, surgery and perioperative care as well as emergency and outpatient primary care services. In 2016, MEH had 46,392 outpatient visits, performed 1,236 surgical procedures, had 502 inpatient admissions and delivered 57 babies.