The need for Community Health Workers in Alaska is unprecedented. Alaska Primary Care Association’s Work Force Development team has been diligently searching for ways to relieve some of the need. Over the next three years, APCA will be working with dozens of Alaskans to prepare them for a career in healthcare.

There are three initiatives that APCA will be working towards in an effort to support Community Health Centers:

1. COVID Education and Care. APCA will be hiring and training Community Health Workers (CHWs) to provide education to the public and support COVID care and iniatitives. They will help educate members of the Alaskan public about how to prevent the disease and answering questions about vaccine safety.
2. Addressing Immunization Hesitancy and Community Relationship Building. CHWs will work within their communities to help serve underserved populations in the Alaskan community. Many people are behind on their immunizations or have elected to not vaccinate for any number of reasons. This initiative looks at COVID as well as other immunizations.
3. Increase Apprenticeship Enrollment. APCA will be focusing on finding and placing apprentices in organizations around the state. While we would like to place our CHWs in Community Health Centers, we are working with other organizations in the Anchorage/Mat-Su area to ensure a place for every apprentice.  

Much of this work will be focused in the Anchorage, Mat-Su, Fairbanks, and Kenai areas. However, our hope is that the work will spread to benefit Alaskans all over the state. APCA will be experiencing exponential growth over the next year as all of these initiatives get underway. APCA will also be reaching out to our members for support and feedback as we continue to learn the best ways to address the needs of our community.