June 04, 2010 01:18am EST 

Since 1953, the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association has followed its core belief: people caring for people. Since then, ASHNHA has become a territory-wide organization that represents health facilities in the Territorial Legislature and has grown in size and stature as a prominent health care policy voice. The members of ASHNHA are made up of hospitals, nursing homes and other health care systems and organizations, all made up of people working to improve health for every Alaskan and provide both quality and affordable health care for all. ASHNHA is a leader in meeting all of the critical challenges and issues facing the health of the patients, hospitals, and communities in the state of Alaska.
One of ASHNHA’s goals is to promote recognized best-practice measures that will improve members’ performance as centers of excellence in providing health care to their patients. They also advocate just and reasonable laws and regulations, provide opportunities for ongoing professional and educational skills, foster optimum cooperation between ASHNHA members and other health care providers, and much more. ASHNHA also continues to pursue all opportunities possible to promote all of their goals.
With a mission to “provide steady, trustworthy leadership towards improving Alaskans’ overall health status,” ASHNHA hopes to reach their goal of providing strong, effective statewide leadership to address the critical issues affecting the health of every Alaskan. An example of how they are reaching this goal is ASHPIN, or the Alaska Small Hospital Performance Improvement Network, a division of ASHNHA that now has 13 hospitals and ASHNHA itself as members. The mission of ASHPIN is “to improve the clinical, operational, and financial performance of Alaska’s small rural hospitals to ensure patient access to appropriate healthcare services.” ASHPIN’s principles include collaborating fully as a network, staying patient focused, and making each small hospital in Alaska self-sustaining. ASHPIN is just another example of how ASHNHA fights for quality, affordable, accessible health care in Alaska.

You can find additional information on the ASHPIN and ASHNHA websites.