When Christy Fassbender started working at Iliuliuk Family and Health Services in 2024, she quickly noticed something about Unalaska’s primary clinic: Staff didn’t just handle regular checkups, they also managed trauma cases on a regular basis.
Fassbender, a nurse practitioner who spent most of her career at Level 1 trauma centers in Alabama, did something about it.
“I was like, we're just as good, if not better, than many other places that are designated as whatever level they may be, trauma centers,” she said. “We provide just as good care as they do, and we should be recognized for that.”
She teamed up with other clinic staff and worked with the Alaska Department of Health for over a year to make Iliuliuk Family and Health Services a designated trauma center.
The process involved monthly meetings, extensive paperwork and site visits from state officials. In July, it all paid off.
Iliuliuk Family and Health Services became Alaska’s first Level 5 trauma center.
Level 5 is the most basic trauma center designation, typically used for remote areas where a local health clinic can provide initial emergency care.
Even though staff were already providing emergency care to Unalaska’s 4,000 residents, they’re now getting state recognition for it. The new designation could help recruit medical staff to Unalaska, expand the clinic’s grant funding options and put them on track to eventually become a freestanding emergency department.
But in the meantime, there will be some minor tweaks. During emergencies, medical staff must now decide within 60 minutes whether patients need higher-level care in Anchorage.
Fassbender said that’s now possible thanks to having a working CT scanner on the island.
“Once we got the CT up and running, we definitely saw a decrease in the amount of transfers that we had to make, because we could rule in or rule out traumatic injuries,” she said. “They didn't have to go to Anchorage just to be told, ‘Hey, you're okay now you got to find a way back home,' or, ‘Hey, we really need to get them to Anchorage. Let's make it happen quickly.’”
The CT scanner was installed in Unalaska in 2024, and it’s already proven to help patients save money and time.
Dawn Johnson, CEO of Iliuliuk Family and Health Services, said many longtime employees didn’t realize they were already providing trauma care until they started going through the process of becoming a trauma center.
“When we received that 20-something-page list of requirements, it was daunting," she said. “But as we started going through one by one, it was very encouraging to me to see that a lot of it was, ‘We already do that.’ Now we just have to document that we're doing it and show that we're doing it.”
Johnson says the designation validates what they've been doing all along.
So, why has Alaska never had a level 5 trauma center before?
Johnson said it really comes down to resources and cost. Trauma centers need specialized equipment like a CT scanner, extra staff who can work after hours and the ability to document everything they do — all of that can be really pricey for a rural clinic.
Fassbender said the achievement feels rewarding.
“It feels really, really good, very accomplished,” she said. “And it's like, ‘Okay, what's my next hurdle?’”
Their next goal is to open Unalaska’s first retail pharmacy, which is already in the works. The clinic's board approved it in August, and they expect it to be open to the community next year.
