By Linden Staciokas
She’ll never be featured in Law & Order, but Debra Reed’s job as a health aide often requires her to become a detective. “It’s fun to figure out what a person’s medical symptoms mean. If they have to leave the village, I work out how to get them to town. Arranging travel may require hours of investigation and paperwork because, for example, if it is a weekend, Medicare won’t cover the travel. Or the planes might be full, causing appointments to be rescheduled. The care for one person can be like a giant puzzle where I have to find ways to make the pieces fit just right.”
Debra’s been doing her health aide detective work for 28 years. She had always been interested in medicine and after high school graduation completed the training to become a medical assistant in a doctor’s office. But working in the medical field had to wait, because when she was 18, Debra left California, where she had been born and raised, to find adventure in Alaska. After arriving, she worked as a waitress and then as a laborer on the pipeline; she spent 17 years with the Laborer’s Union.
When Debra moved to Steven’s Village, her dear friend suggested she apply for the health aide position, reigniting her original interest in medicine. After two years there, she moved to Rampart to work. Two years later, Debra left direct patient care, to spend the next 12 years training health aides, first at the TCC CHAP Training Center and then as the CHAP Regional Instructor.
After working as an Itinerant CHA for the last 10 years, Debra states, “I still love this work. It is not a job, it is a calling,” while still acknowledging that the job has its difficult aspects. “It can be very stressful to be sure that you have done everything right. I have a tendency to beat myself up, to feel like I could have done more, done better. I second guess myself.”
Asked what she would advise people thinking about becoming health aides, Debra noted how all-consuming it can be. “If you have a family, they have to be supportive, and they have to understand it is going to be more than a 9 to 5 position. For the right person, however, it can be a fulfilling career, one that gives meaning and purpose to your life.”
When she is not working, Debra recharges her batteries by spending time with her family and friends, when she can tear herself away from her grandkids; she recently took six of them to Hawaii. During COVID, her Tanana grandkids lived with her for five months, although they thought they were coming to visit Grandma just for spring break. With them, Debra’s household swelled to 11 people and she enjoyed every minute. She and her extended family members regularly engage in seasonal activities together, including an annual fishing trip to Valdez that is the highlight of the summer for them. Debra also loves to read. When life was less hectic, she beaded, but for now various beading projects have been put aside until she has more time for such concentrated work.
Angela Lucien, Debra’s supervisor, had this to say about her. “Deb has been a committed CHAP member and health aide for many years. What stands out most to me about Deb is her genuine ability to connect with the communities she itinerates in. She is very beloved and a familiar face in our rural villages, contributing from both a health perspective and a heart perspective.”
Right now, Debra has no plans to retire. She has the energy to work and there are patients who need her, so it won’t be long until she is packing her bags and her detective skills for the next posting to one of the villages in the TCC region.