Iliuliuk Family and Health Services

The board promoted Dawn Johnson, the former clinical services director, to chief operating officer and interim CEO.

In this episode of “Island Interviews,” Dr. Murray Buttner — Unalaska’s Iliuliuk Family and Health Services medical director and a former family physician for the clinic — discusses the event and why it’s important to get to know your health care provider.

Ash clouds from two volcanoes have disrupted air travel in the Aleutians, including Unalaska, preventing some patients from reaching medical care in Anchorage.

In this episode of “Island Interviews,” Dr. Murray Buttner — a former family physician for Unalaska’s Iliuliuk Family and Health Services clinic — discusses Seasonal Affective Disorder and offers health advice for the upcoming winter months.

Unalaska’s health clinic has been awarded funding to expand its facility on the island. The U.S. Department of Treasury will give Iliuliuk Family and Health Services $20 million to expand and renovate its building, the clinic announced Thursday.

Three top healthcare providers at Unalaska’s clinic recently left the island, but they assure patients that high-quality care will continue during the transition.

Unalaska’s Iliuliuk Family and Health Services clinic hosted a farewell barbecue for Mylynn Dang and Dr. Megan Sarnecki Friday.

Iliuliuk Family and Health Services has extended its weekday closing hours to 9 p.m. For years, the island’s largest healthcare provider has closed at 6 p.m., which limited service options for community members. Clinic staff say new hours will give community members greater access to services.

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, fuel costs spiked across the nation, inciting a rise in air travel costs. Then a slew of factors compounded the problem: inflation, bad weather, pilot shortages and loads of people traveling sent those prices even higher. And in Unalaska, 800 air miles from Anchorage, nestled between the Bering Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, those costs are landing a hard blow.

Unalaska’s clinic is expecting its first doses of the monkeypox vaccine this week. The White House declared monkeypox a public health emergency last month. The disease spread rapidly after it was first detected in the U.S. this spring. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are more than 21,000 cases in the nation as of Thursday. Only three have been reported in Alaska. People in Anchorage have had access to the monkeypox vaccine since early August. Rural communities like Unalaska are now beginning to receive doses as well.