2009 Alaska Health Workforce Vacancy Study

Alaska continues to experience health professional shortages. The state has long had a deficient “supply side” characterized by insufficient numbers of key health workers whose recruitment, retention, and training have been impeded by Alaska’s remoteness, harsh climate, rural isolation, low population density, and scarce training resources. Alaska is the only state without a pharmacy school and lacks its own dental and physical therapy schools as well. Health professional shortages can be decreased through the start of new training programs, the expansion of existing programs, and the improvement of the effectiveness of recruitment and retention efforts. However, strategic planning and the execution of such programs require valid and accurate data. To this end, stakeholders such as the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority (AMHTA) and Alaskan's For Access to Health Care (ACCESS), along with schools and departments within the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), funded the Alaska Center for Rural Health-Alaska’s AHEC (ACRH) and the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) to conduct a comprehensive health workforce study during winter and spring of 2009. This report highlights employers’ needs for employees to fill budgeted positions. This is different from a needs assessment that would take into account population demographics and disease incidence and prevalence. This health workforce study is an assessment of health manpower shortage based on budgeted staff positions and their vacancies in organizations throughout the state. Respondents included part-time positions, which resulted in our counting full-time equivalent (FTE) rather than individuals (“bodies”). In situations where a position was divided among more than one occupation (e.g., Dental Assistant and Billing Clerk), we asked the respondent to count the position under which they considered the position’s “primary occupation.” This was a point-in-time cross-sectional study. Recently filled vacancies or imminent vacancies were not counted. Positions filled by relief/temporary/locum/contract health workers were counted as vacancies only if these workers were temporarily filling a currently vacant, budgeted position. Due to budget and time constraints, we were not able to conduct a trend analysis that is a comparison of this study’s findings and the prior 2007 study. The key questions this study sought to answer were (1) How many budgeted positions, either full- or part-time, existed in organizations providing health services in Alaska? (2) How many of these budgeted positions were currently vacant? (3) What was the vacancy rate? (4) How many of the organizations that employ these occupations hired new graduates of training programs? (5) How many of the currently vacant budgeted positions (#2) could be filled by new graduates of training programs? (6) What were the mean and maximum length of time, expressed in months, that the vacancies have existed? (7) What were the principal, underlying causes of vacancies? The study was designed in consultation with an advisory group that included AMHTA, ACCESS, and UAA. The study targeted 93 health occupations. The unit of analysis was the employment site by organization type, which allowed for the allocation of positions and vacancies by geographic region. For each employer, we identified the staff person most knowledgeable about hiring and vacancies. In large organizations this meant that one employer might provide information about multiple sites and organization types; smaller employers were responsible for only a single site.Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority. Alaskan's for Access to Health Care. University of Alaska Fairbanks, Tanana Valley campus Telemedicine program. University of Alaska Anchorage, Community and Technical College. University of Alaska Anchorage, School of Nursing.Acknowledgements / Executive Summary / Table of Contents / Problem and Rationale / Methodology / Limitations of Study / Findings / Appendix A. List of Health Occupations / Appendix B. Health Workforce Surveys / Appendix C. Cover Letter Accompanying Survey Forms / Appendix D. Confidence Intervals for Positions, Vacancies, Number of Vacancies Filled with New Graduates, and Length of Longest Vacancy in Months / Appendix E. Tables of Samples and Estimates of Positions, Vacancies, Vacancy Rates, Number of Vacancies Filled with New Graduates, Mean and Maximum Length of Longest Vacancy in Months / Appendix F. Tables of Occupations Sorted By Estimates of Positions, Vacancies, Vacancy Rates, Number of Vacancies Filled with New Graduates, Mean and Maximum Length of Longest Vacancy in Month

Effects of the 2002 Chignik Cooperative: A Survey of Chignik Salmon Permit Holders

This report presents the results of a survey of Chignik Salmon Purse Seine permit holders about management changes in the Chignik salmon fishery and the effects of the 2002 Chignik salmon cooperative. In January 2002, the Alaska Board of Fisheries passed regulations that established criteria and management measures for a cooperative fishery in the Chignik purse seine salmon fishery. Under the regulations, if 51 or more Chignik permit holders chose to join a cooperative, the cooperative would receive an allocation of a percentage of the Chignik sockeye salmon harvest. The purpose of the regulations was to allow permit holders the opportunity to fish cooperatively to reduce costs, improve quality and increase value by reducing the number of vessels fishing and slowing down the fishery. Permit holders who chose not to join the cooperative could fish in an “open” or “independent” fishery with a separate allocation. Subsequently the Chignik Seafood Producers Alliance (CSPA) formed as a cooperative in accordance with the new regulations. In 2002, 77 Chignik permit holders joined the Co-op, 22 permit holders chose to fish independently in the open fishery, and 1 permit holder did not join the cooperative and also did not fish. This report is based on the 89 survey responses that we received by January 15, 2003. (An earlier report was based on the 80 responses received by December 3, 2002.)Funding for the survey and the study was provided by University of Alaska Foundation funds made available to ISER by University of Alaska President Hamilton for a series of Alaska economic studies

Kids Count 2011-2012 Data Book

Kids Count Alaska is part of a nationwide program, sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, to collect and publicize information about children’s health, safety, education, and economic status. We gather information from many sources and present it in one place, trying to give Alaskans a broad picture of how the state’s children are doing and provide parents, policymakers, and others with information they need to improve life for children and families. Our goals are: • Distributing information about the status of Alaska’s children • Creating an informed public, motivated to help children • Comparing the status of children in Alaska with that of children nationwide, and presenting additional Alaska indicators (including regional breakdowns) when possible.The Annie E. Casey Foundation.Introduction / Infancy / Economic Well-Being / Education / Children in Danger / Juvenile Justic