Providence Alaska Medical Center earned the following rankings for 2024–2025:

• High Performing Hospital in treating Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
• High Performing Hospital in treating Heart Attack
• High Performing Hospital in treating Heart Failure
• High Performing Hospital in treating Kidney Failure
• High Performing Hospital in Maternity care
• High Performing Hospital in treating Pneumonia
• High Performing Hospital in treating Stroke

In addition to these significant high-performance rankings, Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage recently earned the Comprehensive Stroke Center certification by DNV, a global independent certification, assurance, and risk management provider operating in more than 100 countries. The accreditation reflects the highest level of stroke care a hospital can achieve.

“We are really proud of this certification because we see the highest number of stroke patients in Alaska. Our goal is to create an environment for our providers and caregivers to be very well-versed in how to care for stroke patients or patients presenting with the possibility of stroke symptoms,” explains Providence Alaska Chief Executive Ella Goss. “This designation tells everyone in the state and the country that we have achieved the highest standards set forth by the Brain Attack Coalition in the American Stroke Association to meet the stringent standards necessary to deliver the highest quality of care to the most comprehensive stroke patients.”

One distinct advantage of obtaining this certification is Providence’s increased ability to prioritize funding to purchase more innovative technologies to deliver the necessary care for stroke patients. “This designation supports us as an organization when budgeting for our capital improvements. It allows us to prioritize where our funds are spent,” says Goss.

A prime example of the innovative technology at Providence Hospital is the da Vinci 5 robotic-assisted surgical system. “This robot can go into the patient’s arteries through their groin and extract the clot from the brain,” explains Goss. “Neurosurgeons are very particular about where they want to work because they want to have the latest and greatest equipment. This type of equipment ensures that we can recruit the best and the brightest to Alaska, which is really important.”

Serving Anchorage and the surrounding communities for more than sixty years, Alaska Regional Hospital boasts more than 1,000 employees. The hospital’s physicians represent a range of specialties, including cardiology, neurological care, neonatal intensive care, oncology, orthopedic care, pediatrics, weight loss surgery, and women’s care. The hospital also provides diagnostics and laboratory services, emergency care, imaging, and inpatient physical rehabilitation.

“Alaska Regional Hospital is a part of HCA Healthcare, and together we improve more lives in more ways,” says Kjerstin Lastufka, director of communications and community engagement.

HCA Healthcare, which serves more than 1.5 million patient interactions annually through its Mountain Division facilities in Utah, Idaho, and Alaska, has been recognized more than once on Fortune’s 2025 “World’s Most Admired Companies” list. The organization ranked Tennessee-based HCA Healthcare first in its industry and recognized it as one of America’s Most Innovative Companies.

Widely recognized for having won multiple awards, Alaska Regional Hospital and HCA Healthcare’s Mountain Division’s most recent recognitions include:

• Top Fifteen Health Systems: According to an independent analysis by consulting firm Premier Inc., HCA Healthcare’s Mountain Division made the prestigious list in 2023, 2024, and again in 2025. The Mountain Division comprises more than 100 care sites, including 11 acute-care hospitals, 6 satellite emergency departments, and a behavioral health campus.
• Patient Safety: Gold Seal of Approval from the Joint Commission accreditation organization signifying a devotion to patient safety and quality of care, and a 2024 Patient Safety Excellence Award from evaluation company Healthgrades.
• Heart: American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation-certified Cardiac Rehab Program, emergency room staff certified in advanced cardiac life support, pediatric advanced life support, trauma care, and stroke screening (National Institute of Health).
• Neurology: Alaska’s first Comprehensive Stroke Center, certified by DNV.
• Orthopedics/Surgery: Joint Commission-certified Total Hip Replacement, Certified Total Knee Replacement, Center of Excellence in Robotic Surgery by the Surgical Review Corporation, Healthgrades’ “America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Spine Surgery” for the second straight year (2024–2025). Alaska Regional also received five-star ratings for spinal fusion surgery, total knee replacement, back surgery, and total hip replacement.
• Clinical Care: Gold Seal of Approval from the Joint Commission, accredited by the College of American Pathologists, and accredited by the American College of Radiology.
• Cancer: Commission on Cancer-accredited program by the American College of Surgeons.
• Radiology: Accredited by the College of American Pathologists and the American College of Radiology.

“As a part of HCA Healthcare, our hospital is connected to something bigger, which means more resources, more solutions, and more possibilities for everyone who walks through our doors,” says Lastufka. “Every day, we seek to raise the bar higher for our community.”

The bar is as high as can be at PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center. “We strive for 100 percent perfect patient care, so we’re focused on clinical excellence,” says Chief Administrative Officer Sarah Cook. “Focusing on clinical excellence includes engagement with our board, management, leaders, and staff. We all have a part in that.”

The hospital in Ketchikan is part of a network based in Vancouver, Washington. PeaceHealth is a nonprofit Catholic health system providing care to communities in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. Founded in 1890 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace (not to be confused with St. Joseph of Orange, a separate Catholic order that partners with the Providence network), PeaceHealth continues the legacy of the founding sisters by holding to a vision that every person receives safe, compassionate care—every time, every touch.

One focus at PeaceHealth is culture and safety. “We do systemwide safety training on this to ensure that everyone within PeaceHealth is aware of our personal contribution to this culture of safety,” says Cook.

When something doesn’t go right, the focus of culture and safety is not to blame a person but to look at the process. “We focus on evaluating the process to determine if the cause is a system issue or a human error,” explains Jen Moyes, Ketchikan Medical Center’s interim chief nursing officer. “We examine what we need to do to make sure the mistake doesn’t happen again. A lot of training goes into this to ensure we remove biases as we continue on this journey of culture and safety.”

Another focus at PeaceHealth is clinical standardization. “We have a systematic way of approaching our work so that we’re efficient in delivering our care every single day so that our patients receive our best practices,” says Moyes.

The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently ranked PeaceHealth in the top 5 percent of hospitals nationwide in hospital cleanliness, giving it a five-star rating; it is one of only two hospitals in Alaska to earn this rating and one of only 350 nationwide.

Staffing is key to maintaining this cleanliness status. “We make sure we are fully staffed in the environmental services department,” explains Cook. “That is really important to be able to keep up that cleanliness. The second key part is the training that goes into that. Everyone has to do a standard training to ensure they know which chemicals they’re working with, especially when cleaning rooms where a patient has an infection. We also bring in other companies to do audits on us and advise if there is anything we could change about our practice to maintain this level of cleanliness.” The hospital also hires companies equipped to take beds and big pieces of equipment apart for deep cleaning.

“It’s tough to get this award, but we take pride in it,” says Moyes. “If we start with a clean environment, we can reduce the infection rates and provide better quality care. It also increases the satisfaction with our patients and their families when they come into our hospitals because there’s a sense of relief that comes from a clean environment.”

Established in 1975 under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) is one of the largest Native-run healthcare organizations in the country. An independent and nonprofit health consortium, SEARHC provides a comprehensive range of health-related services serving twenty-six communities across the diverse region of Southeast.

The complicated structure of providing healthcare across this archipelago inspires SEARHC’s senior vice president and chief medical officer, Dr. Cate Buley, every day. “You have to be creative and innovative and think outside the box. SEARHC has accomplished this while remaining financially stable,” says Buley. “That keeps me motivated. I come to work every day thinking about how we get to serve these communities and the role modern technology plays in that.”

Buley recently embraced modern technology during a visit to a small clinic in Tenakee Springs, where Starlink satellite internet provides access to electronic health records. Buley recounts, “A virtual scribe lets me put down my phone and talk to the patient while the program types up all my notes. The technology now available in those rural areas also enables residents to sign up for our patient portal and stay connected to their medical team. Additionally, I can look at an MRI for a patient in a rural community and get them connected to a surgeon when necessary. That’s an example of getting them the healthcare they need at the right time.”

Recently, SEARHC successfully completed the DNV accreditation survey. “We’re very excited about the DNV accreditation because it shows our patients and communities that we’re providing the highest quality of healthcare,” explains Buley. “DNV looks across the spectrum of the healthcare organization with a microscope. They look at our facilities, our nursing staff, and the medical staff we’re hiring to ensure we follow the highest safety standards to prevent harm to any patient. To pass that with high marks in our first year of using DNV is a great accomplishment.”

DNV surveys are conducted annually, further motivating SEARHC to always have the highest standards. “You don’t get ready or specifically prepare for any type of survey or accreditation; we’re just constantly in a state of preparation,” says Buley.

Community service is key to everything at SEARHC. Martin Benning, senior vice president and chief of clinic and hospital operations, states, “One of the things we realized about four years ago was that almost half of our patients were leaving Southeast Alaska to get specialty care and other types of services. As a result, we’ve invested in that infrastructure to bring those types of physicians into Southeast Alaska and build the practices needed to take care of those patients, so people don’t have to leave. It’s been a tremendous focus of ours.”

SEARHC opened a 45,000-square-foot medical center in Juneau a little over a year ago. “We have expanded our service in that medical center,” says Benning. “But it has also allowed us to create better access to specialty care at some of our other locations, and we’re continuing to grow that.”

Continuing to look forward, SEARHC recently introduced View 2028, a strategic vision for driving growth, innovation, and lasting impact, with three core themes:

• Caring for caregivers: Everyone who works at SEARHC is a caregiver, working together to build a strong, resilient team.
• High-quality healthcare for all: SEARHC ensures all who live in its communities have access to its high-quality care.
• One SEARHC: Delivering accessible and seamless healthcare that enhances the health and well-being of those it serves.

The goals of SEARHC and the other medical institutions noted above provide an encouraging picture of Alaska’s healthcare future.