FY 12 DHSS Budget Overview - Alaska Department of Health and ...

Access to Early Preventive Services and Quality Health Care
Alaska‘s public health nurses provided more than 136,000 health care visits; 81,073 of these
were to children and youth ages birth to 19 years.
100 percent of all newborn children were screened for over 30 metabolic conditions, and 97
percent of all babies born in a hospital were screened for newborn hearing loss. Public Health
nurses administered 85 newborn hearing screenings. In calendar year 2009, there were 18
confirmed cases of hearing loss in very young children.
The number of young children screened for autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions
has increased as a result of additional outreach screening clinics held in communities outside
of Anchorage, including Kodiak, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan, Dillingham, Nome, Homer,
Bethel, Kotzebue, Valdez, and Barrow.
Performed 8,200 child health exams, including 1,250 complete Medicaid early, periodic,
screening, diagnosis and treatment (EPSDT) exams.
The Breast and Cervical Health Check Program continued its lifesaving work. Since its
inception, the program has provided 77,000 cancer screenings to 36,000 medicallyunderserved
women. Of the women served, 232 cases of breast cancer, more than 30 cases of
cervical cancer, and nearly 1,900 potentially pre-cancerous conditions have been identified.
Provided more than 10,500 visits for family planning to 4,800 individuals (80% of those
visits were to young women ages 24 and younger).
Family planning and reproductive services are offered by two grantees located in the Mat-Su
Valley and in Homer. Over 2,285 women were served at these two locations in 2009.
Provided 1,100 prenatal visits to 825
individuals and more than 1,300
postpartum visits to 950 childbearing
women and families.
Administered 6,270 pregnancy tests.
Residential care licensing staff
investigated complaints and took
enforcement actions when necessary
for more than 525 complaints, as
compared to 299 complaints in FY09.
The Background Check program has
processed over 71,000 background
check applications since
implementation on March 31, 2006, with more than 2,200 applications identified as
having barring criminal conditions.
Major Accomplishments
o Analysis of FY10 data from the Alaska Birth Defects/Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
Registry showed a declining trend among Alaska Native infants in the birth prevalence of
neural tube defects and fetal alcohol syndrome.
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