Alaska Federal Health Care Access Network

Description

The state of Alaska covers a massive area with climate and terrain differentials not seen in any other state. Temperatures range from an average of 50 degrees below zero during the dark winter when the sun disappears from Barrow within the Arctic Circle to humid rain forest conditions in the rain country surrounding our state capital in Juneau - with every imaginable variation in between. If Alaska were to be overlaid on a scale map of the lower 48 United States, the Greatland would reach from San Francisco, California to Jacksonville, Florida. Alaska's coastline equals that of all the rest of the contiguous states and most communities bordering the Arctic Ocean, Chukchi Sea, Bering Sea, and sections of the Pacific Ocean are ice bound for most of the winter months.Rural has a different connotation in Alaska than most people are familiar with due to the lack of a connected road system to the majority of remote villages scattered across vast expanses. Travel to more than 200 rural communities can often only be done by small plane or boat if weather conditions are cooperative. Often people are flown to the nearest hospital for medical treatment when it isn't necessary or people are not flown when it is necessary. The AFHCAN project will attempt to bring better health care to Alaskans in rural areas, using telemedicine technologies.The 248 sites mobilized by AFHCAN to participate in the Alaska telemedicine project will include military installations, Alaska Native health facilities, regional hospitals, small village clinics, and state of Alaska public health nursing stations.

Companies nearby