Norton Sound Health Corporation - Stephen D Daniel

Norton Sound Health Corporation (NSHC) is a tribally owned and operated, independent, not-for profit health care organization, founded in 1970 to meet the health care needs of the Inupiat, Siberian Yup'ik and Yu'pik people of the Bering Strait region. NSHC is governed by a 22-member board of directors that represents all communities and areas of the Bering Strait region, a 44,000 square-mile section of northwestern Alaska.

In 1969, the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) sought a demonstration project to give Alaska Natives greater power in health care decisions. Norton Sound was selected for development of a model for community-based health care services as an alternative to regional, hospital-based care. The first board had just three directors: William Takak of Shaktoolik, president; Winfred James of Gambell, treasurer; and Dorothy Isabell of Teller, secretary. That first NSHC Board of Directors faced a formidable task: Bring health care services to a remote area with limited resources.

Norton Sound Health Corporation welcomes researchers looking to improve the lives of the people of the Bering Strait/Norton Sound region. The NSHC Research Ethics and Review (RERB) Board is available to review research projects in the region. The RERB tentatively meets three times a year. Please contact the RERB Staff Liaison for further information or to add your project to the RERB presentation schedule. If you are submitting a research project, you must obtain Alaska Area IRB approval before NSHC RERB review.

While the majority of NSHC's 500 employees are based in Nome, many staff members regularly travel to villages to treat patients. Fifteen villages, ranging in size from 150 to 750 residents, are scattered along the Bering Sea coast and on islands of the region. Each village has a clinic staffed by local residents trained as community health aides.