[lightbox link=”https://www.ciri.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Nuka-Bldg.jpg” thumb=”https://www.ciri.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Nuka-Bldg-300×200.jpg” width=”300″ align=”left” title=”Drawing of the future Nuka Institute building.” frame=”true” icon=”image” caption=”Drawing of the future Nuka Institute building.”]In July, Southcentral Foundation (SCF) broke ground on its new Nuka Institute building, which is slated to open by winter 2015 or early 2016. Located on the Alaska Native Health Campus in Anchorage’s University-Medical District, the project – a three-story, 59,000-square-foot facility – was made possible in part by a major grant award from the Rasmuson Foundation, with additional funding from the State of Alaska and SCF, including start-up funds from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
“Southcentral Foundation is responding to tremendous demand for training on the health care system it pioneered,” said Diane Kaplan, Rasmuson Foundation president. “Like the Dental Health Aid Therapist program, Nuka is an example of Alaska innovation that can be replicated around the state and country to solve one of the biggest challenges of our time: improving health while containing costs.”
Once open, the Nuka Building will house the SCF Nuka Institute; a therapy center to serve the growing needs of SCF’s Family Wellness Warriors Initiative; and space for the growth of Learning Circle opportunities as a core service option for approaching better health and wellness. The new facility will also include group therapy rooms, administrative offices and training rooms where health care professionals and educators can learn more about SCF’s Nuka System of Care, a customer-owned health care system that focuses on whole-person wellness.
Part of the Rasmuson Foundation funding will support the development of curriculum and training programs, helping to enable the SCF Nuka Institute to support organizations throughout Anchorage and Alaska. The reach of the award-winning Nuka System has extended far beyond Alaska as other institutions, from Harvard Medical School to CareOregon, have implemented core tenets of the system.
Congratulations to SCF on the groundbreaking of this exciting new building and its commitment to improving the health and well-being of Alaska Native people!
