BETHEL — Villages in southwest Alaska now have access to help from more health care workers following the certification of dozens of community health aides.
56 people from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta received their certification this summer. They have been providing health care to people across the region at clinics run by the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation.
Rahnia Boyer, who is the corporation’s vice president of village health, says the aides have been trained and hired through a program that allows people who live in the area to serve their own communities.
The recent round of certifications means that several villages now have full-time health aides, including Crooked Creek, Shageluk, Chuathbaluk, and Nunam Iqua.
Sleetmute and Pitka’s Point are the only villages without a full-time health aide.