is living his dream of working and living in Alaska at a career he really enjoys. Jeff and his family live in Sitka, Alaska, where he serves as the Community Health Services (CHS) Laboratory Manager for SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC), a non-profit tribal health consortium of 18 Native communities which serves the health interests of the Tlingít, Haida, Tsimshian, and other Native people of Southeast Alaska. Jeff is also a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Public Health Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As a member of America’s Uniformed Service of Public Health, Jeff oversees all lab operations and training for the consortium’s rural clinics, which includes two moderate complexity laboratories and eight other remote sites performing waived and PPMP (provider-performed microscopic procedures) testing that are spread throughout Southeast Alaska.
Jeff first became interested in the laboratory profession while taking a Cell Physiology class at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, MO, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology in 1994. One night during his Medical Technology internship, Jeff gave a fellow student a ride home, who told him about a job interview she had with the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation, in Bethel, Alaska. Bethel, known as a “bush” community, is approximately 500 air miles southwest of Anchorage. “When my classmate mentioned there was another job opening for a Medical Technologist at the same facility, I decided to apply, because I had always wanted to see Alaska,” said Jeff. A couple weeks later Jeff accepted a position with the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation (YKHC).
Soon after graduation Jeff and his wife, Cheryl, a social worker, were living in Bethel where Jeff worked as a generalist and served as the Continuing Education Coordinator for the YKHC laboratory. While bush Alaska living presented its share of hardships — for example, the need to have all their water delivered to their home — the couple took to the bush Alaska lifestyle, later moving north to Kotzebue which is 35
miles above the Arctic Circle. While in Kotzebue, Jeff again served as a Medical Technologist generalist and also implemented a Laboratory Information System (LIS) for the Maniilaq Health Center Laboratory. They returned to Bethel in 1998, where Jeff once again worked at YKHC, also assuming responsibility for laboratory information services as well as all aspects of the chemistry department.
In May, 2000 Jeff accepted a position as a generalist at SEARHC’s Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital in Sitka, Alaska. For the next three years he worked as a generalist, until he volunteered to start up two moderate complexity laboratories in Klawock and Haines as part of a pilot project, sponsored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), called Frontier Extended Stay Clinics (FESC). The FESC program is designed to address the needs of seriously or critically ill or injured patients who, due to adverse weather conditions or other reasons, cannot be transferred quickly to acute care referral centers; or patients who need monitoring and observation for a limited period of time.
With FESC, observation services, similar to those at acute care hospitals, are provided at a local extended stay clinic until the patient is either transferred or can be released. The clinics, staffed by doctors and nurses, are open 24/7. Today, each lab is staffed with one FTE and 7-8 nurses who are cross trained to perform laboratory testing. Although no testing personnel have a formal laboratory background, they all participate in a thorough training and competency program to help ensure the quality of laboratory services. Despite the logistical challenges -- both labs are over 150 miles away from Sitka, and are only accessible by small aircraft or ferry -- Jeff stays in touch with his employees via email, phone and with bi-monthly visits.
“Prior to the creation of these moderate complexity labs, all samples needed to be sent to the reference lab in Seattle,” explained Jeff. “Keeping the lab close to the patient has helped to improve patient care, and also substantially reduced the number of patient transports off-island,” he added.
Even though Jeff currently doesn’t have much regular patient contact, he feels he is making a real impact on the quality of health care being provided in the communities.
“My focus, along with that of my team, is to continually improve the quality of laboratory services,” said Jeff, who was nominated for the PHS Commissioned Corps
Achievement Medal for improving the quality of SEARHC laboratory services, and whose labs recently received the COLA Laboratory Excellence Award.
Jeff, his wife, and their 7-year-old daughter, continue to enjoy the Alaskan lifestyle. “Living in a small island community has its advantages, like a short, five- minute commute to work. The weather is temperate, with an average winter temperature in the low 40s or high 30s, and cool summers. But mostly, I like the fact that it’s a different type of lifestyle than in the Lower 48 states, with a slower pace and more time for family,” said Jeff.
SEARHC has been a COLA client since 2003.
