Holiday Dinners
Dear Editor: The Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood would like to thank the following for the generous donations that made the annual holiday dinners a success.
Sea Mart, AC Lakeside, Sitka Conservation Society, Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Sealaska Corporation, Shee Atika Corporation, Alaska Computer Center, LFS Inc., Sitka White Elephant, Sitka Bazaar, White’s Pharmacy, Sitka Work and Rugged Gear Store, Baranof Island Housing Authority, St. Peter’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, City of Sitka Local 52, Arrowhead Transfer and the wonderful people of Sitka for their donations of money and their time as volunteers.
We are an amazing community and the time together sharing good food time together is priceless.
Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for making this year another successful event.
Alaska Native Brotherhood, Camp 1
Alaska Native Sisterhood, Camp 4
Certified Home Health
Dear Editor: In light of the change from a medicare Certified Home Health Agency to a program that is not fully covered by Medicare, I thought it would be interesting to see what other hospitals are providing for their communities.
The following provide Medicare Certified Home Health services which guarantees full Medicare coverage: Homer-South Peninsula Hospital; Soldotna-Central Peninsula Hospital; Ketchikan Peace Health Hospital; Petersburg Medical Center; Wasilla Wellspring Home Health; Fairbanks Memorial Hospital; and Juneau-Bartlett Regional Hospital Medicare Certification is pending. Several Anchorage programs are listed as certified but I have not confirmed this with them.
Since SEARHC is still listed at several online sites as providing a Medicare-certified program even though they are no longer Medicare Certified, a friend and I called to confirm that the above programs are Medicare Certified programs.
At the State of Alaska Division of Health Care Services I found this description of certified programs.
‘‘Home Health Agencies (HHAs) provide services that cover a broad range of care provided in the home environment and may include part-time skilled nursing care, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language therapy, home health aide services, medical social services, durable medical equipment (such as wheelchairs, hospital beds, oxygen, walkers), medical supplies and other services. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administers the Medicare Program for Home Health Agencies. The Health Facilities Licensing & Certification acts on behalf of CMS to ensure that federal requirements and quality standards are met and state licensure regulations are followed.’’
Cheryl Stromme, Sitka
