On July 19th, Tanana Chiefs Conference held a Ceremonial Blessing to commemorate the opening of the Chief Andrew Isaac Health Center expansion, which opened its doors to the expanded services of Radiology, Laboratory, Specialty Services and Urgent Care last month.
The event kicked off with an opening prayer from Dr. Rev. Anna Frank, “Open the doors of this building, let your light shine here. Give peace and healing not just for the sick, but for the workers also. Heal the broken hearted. Thank you for all who have given their knowledge and wisdom to bring healing to the sick.”
Then proceeded with a speech from Chief/Chairman Brian Ridley on the history of the project and the future of healthcare at TCC. “A lot of work has gone into this project and I am so proud to be here with all of you today,” said Chief Ridley, “Our healthcare services have come a long way and we will continue to expand, adapt and evolve to meet the needs of those we serve.”
Dr. Charlene Stern, former Vice-President of Tanana Chiefs Conference, talked about the Cultural Committee, which included elders and culture bearers from throughout the TCC region who worked closely with architects and designers to ensure that the clinic had design elements that represented Alaska Native culture and reflected the patients we serve.
“We assembled a cultural committee that included Dr. Rev. Anna Frank, Dr. Elizabeth Fleagle, Yvonne Mayo, Doreen Deaton, Dixie Alexander, Lorraine Titus, Marilyn Andon, myself and later, Terri Cadzow also joined our team. There were a number of things that were really important for our cultural committee, to us, and to all of you, this isn’t just another building or more floor space. For us it’s to carry on a tradition of our people taking care of our people. Those traditions go back millennia. It’s really important to the cultural committee that this expansion represent that long history of care and love in our communities from [the] legacy of health aids to our midwives to our spiritual people that have long served our people and looked out for our health and wellbeing. So today, we build upon those traditions with this beautiful new facility and we wanted to make sure that all throughout that the spirit of our people is here.”
Afterward, First Traditional Chief Trimble Gilbert and Second Traditional Chief Andy Jimmie stepped forward to say a prayer and perform a blessing over the facility.
First Chief Trimble gave his blessing and prayer in his language and Second Chief Andy gave his blessing with a prayer, “Heavenly father we come for you to invite the Holy Spirit in this building and Lord we just pray that you will watch over all our people. Bless the people that worked on this, bless the land, the building and all the people that’s going to work in this [building]. Watch over them and watch over their family and we spread blessings over this whole building in Jesus’ name. Amen”
The last agenda item of the ceremony recollected to 2011, before the original clinic was built, when tribes throughout the TCC region carried soil in handmade beaded bags from their communities, and together combined the soil together into a ceremonial box. Tribal leaders had the opportunity to take handfuls of soil and sprinkle it at the base of the trees outlining the welcome wall outside the clinic, finally returning the soil to the earth. The soil sprinkled at the base of these trees symbolizes the foundation or ‘roots’ of Tanana Chiefs Conference – our Tribes.
More services at the facility will be phased in over the coming year. The Ambulatory Surgery Center and the Cancer Clinic & Infusion center will be opening later this year. Now that services like urgent care, laboratory and radiology have moved into their new home within the expansion – their previous locations will be remodeled to make room for the new ophthalmology and audiology services. These new services will be announced at a later date.
