Trudy Anderson

Trudy AndersonAlaska Native Health Board3700 Woodland DriveSuite 500Anchorage, AK 99517

Phone: (907) 562-6006

Trudy Anderson, CEO, Alaska Native Health Board

Trudy Anderson

President/CEO 743-6117

Trudy Anderson, Executive Director, Alaska Native Health Board

Trudy Anderson, President/CEO3700 Woodland Drive, Suite 500Anchorage, AK 99517Phone: (907) 562-6006Fax: (907) 563-2001

Trudy Anderson, President/CEO3700 Woodland Drive, Suite 500Anchorage, AK 99517Phone: (907) 562-6006Fax: (907) 563-2001

The programhosted by Jay "Nightwolf" Winter will feature Trudy Anderson, Executive Director of the Alaska NativeHealth Board, discussing Alaska programs and Traci McClellan, NIHB Legislative Director, discussing thenational legislative priorities for Indian Country such as the IHCIA reauthorization efforts.

Representing the National Reauthorization Coalition, NIHB's then-Deputy Director, Stacy A. Bohlen, shared an IHCIA panel with Jackie Johnson, NCAI Executive Director, Trudy Anderson, ANHB President and Myra Munson, Partner at the Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Miller and Munson Law Firm (and technical advisor to the National Steering Committee (NSC).

"For the 85,000 Alaska Natives who live in the 200 villages without road access, the only time dental services are available is when a dentist flies in to conduct a dental clinic," said Trudy Anderson of the Alaska Native Health Board.

Alaska Native advocates were on Capitol Hill today saying that dental health aide practitioners or therapists need to have the ability to continue filling the need for care because there aren't enough dentists around.The aides, advocates say, undergo rigorous training, even though they are not certified dentists.One dentist, based in Bethel, says she's witnessed firsthand how much therapists or aides contribute.

Trudy Anderson, Executive Director, Alaska Native Health Board, president, said there is a critical need for health promotion and disease prevention activities across Indian Country and provisions of the IHCIA reauthorization would address this need for both individuals and communities.Anderson said there is a crisis in dental care in Alaska, as Alaskan Native children suffer from tooth decay at 2.5 times the national rate.She said 33% of Alaska Native school children miss school because of dental pain and that most Alaska Native children are only able to see a dentist one time a year.

Anderson and the other tribal leaders support the Dental Health Aides (DHA) Program as a means to help solve a critical problem and consists of a specialty practice area focused on prevention, relief of pain and infection, and basic restorative services."DHAs provide sorely needed access and continuity of dental care in rural Alaska.It is a local solution to a local crisis," Anderson said.