Valerie Davidson takes over at ANTHC, steps down from university president

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Former Health and Social Services Commissioner Valerie Nurr’araaluk Davidson stepped down from the presidency of Alaska Pacific University and to be the permanent president of Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, where she has been filling in as interim president since mid-March, when former President Andy Teuber died in a helicopter crash near Kodiak.

Read: Teuber was distraught over media coverage when he flew helicopter to Kodiak

Davidson has been on a leave of absence from the Anchorage-based university, where Dr. Hilton Hallock will continue to serve as interim president as a search is launched to hire a president.

“Working with the ANTHC team over the last few months has reinforced my belief that people can do the most amazing things under the most challenging conditions as long as we have the right reasons. Children, families, and communities are always the right reasons. I’m honored to advance the board’s vision and support the incredible ANTHC team in this important work on behalf of our children, families, and tribal communities,” Davidson said.”

Davidson previously served at ANTHC as senior director of legal and intergovernmental affairs.

Davidson is Yup’ik and an enrolled tribal member of the Orutsararmiut Traditional Native Council. In 2018, she became the first Alaska Native woman to serve as lieutenant governor, after Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott resigned in a scandal-laced final episode of Gov. Bill Walker’s term in office.

While in the Walker Administration, she was a key advocate for the expansion of Medicaid across Alaska, which has since brought millions of dollars monthly to Alaska Native health organizations.

15 COMMENTS

  1. Uniquely UNQUALIFIED! Just as her predecessor, the disgraced child predator, and just as her disgraced former boss, Bill Walker. This cabal is thoroughly disgusting.

  2. If it is the treaty obligation of the federal government to provide health care to Native Americans, why is the state propping it up with Medicaid?

  3. Please focus on health care, not infastructure, the old hospital on 3rd Ave. was old but the healthcare was top rate. The healthcare at the new hospital was great for a short time, now all the money is spent on hotels, parking and social programs. The elders are mistreated and are not being treated properly or with respect.

  4. Did they find Andy’s body? If so, I didn’t see that in the mews, but I bet when they do finally find him it will be on a tropical island.

  5. “Which had brought Millions of dollars to the Native Health Organizations”
    Why do Alaska Natives receive State of Alaska, SOA Medicaid ? Does that mean that every person who has a existing medical plan, qualifies for SOA Medicaid? Wait what that does not make any sense?
    The BIG untold story, SOA Medicaid offers generous travel benefits. Much more so than the Federal sponsored Native Health plan. Just track the “medical trips” from the Bush. PFD time, Black Friday, around Christmas. Hard data proves all of this. But nobody in the Legislature has the guts to speak up.
    Seeing how the Health and Social services piece of the SOA budget is growing the fastest, while the rest of the budget is taking cuts. Maybe we should ask the Natives, do you want subsidize electricity or the all expense paid trip to the Big City.
    No wonder the SOA budget cannot be balanced.

  6. Support Tribal ANCSA ANILCA IHS BIA BIE Interior Nonprofit Accountability Equality Modernization and Uniform Harmonization of Laws. It’s the worst healthcare; they have been fined for over 5 years in a row and losing funding for healthcare acquired conditions! Indian Health Service Tribal Compacts have over 14,000 secretaries and only 700 doctors for over 2.6 million people. ANTHC SCF ANMC are conducting research on all Alaskans regardless of race but not to all the research participants equally, there is a huge discrepancy between research participants that have access to healthcare and Non-Native research participants that do not have access to the same healthcare that their native counterparts have access to.. we need a choice, accountability and competition to reduce the DAVIDSON WALKER MALLOT fraud. It’s not a tribe and do not treat all native people equally. Southcentral Foundation SCF is owned by cook inlet Region Inc 100% and then they operate ANTHC through sonosky Chambers… It’s not a tribe. I want my healthcare somewhere else my own choice like everyone else in America!

  7. In the photo above, it looks like old Bill Walker is struggling with great difficulty in abstaining a load of flatulent.

  8. People, please!!!!

    Valerie Davidson is no one trick wonder.

    She is freaking Awesome!

    Valerie Davidson created the Tribal Health Insurance Plan with CMS.

    What does this mean?

    This health insurance plan led to President Trump’s similar VA Health Insurance Plan.

    She spearheaded health care if choice for American Indian and Alaska Native people.

    So this means that as Alaska Native people – we are no longer BOUND to a socialist health care system.

    Incremental Governmental-ism is SELF-GOVERNANCE.

  9. Ok, I am more than annoyed with the ignorance spewed so haphazardly in these comments.

    Fiscally speaking.

    I am a logical person. Therefore I am a Republican.

    But this crap being said here is what gives the Republican Party a bad name.

    Rewrite your comments. Rewrite them exactly as they are.

    But make the exact comments pointed at you, your family and community by some one else – even me.

    Societal and positive change happens for all of us when we collectively and individually check ourselves in the mirror.

  10. My final comment on this is, the Federal Annual Fiscal Year ends October 31.

    Travel dollars for health care in Rural Alaska are often depleted until the next federal fiscal year which begins on November 1!

    The State of Alaska Medicaid budget for Alaska Natives is only a PASS THROUGH funding with the sole source coming from the Federal Government.

    So even though the State Fiscal Year is June 30, that is not the overarching funding source for Alaska Native Medicaid dollars.

    Sheesh.

  11. Trudy! Trudy! We are not a divided people by race, and we never should be. We know you have native blood, as many of us do here at MRAK. But the Leftists and Marxists want a race war to further their agenda. Special rights and preferred treatment based on a person’s race will only aggravate further conflict among the many peoples of Alaska. Don’t fall into this trap. The bait looks enticing. But the recoil is deadly. We love you here at MRAK and we are so glad you are a Republican.

  12. What I am saying is that as an Alaska Native person, I now have a health insurance card that does not DEMAND me to use the Alaska Tribal Health System, Hospitals, Indian Health System AT ALL.

    I have the choice to bring my Individual health insurance to any health provider WITHOUT the REFERRAL of the native health system.

    What does that mean for the socialized governmental health system in Alaska and throughout the US?

    The Federal Government is now no longer betrothed to this archaic system of health care in the name of treaty rights.

    It means that these treaties were in place for the health of individuals!!

    Not for the purpose of wealth building, slow-functioning, millionaire-making administrators that lost sight of the original intent and purpose.

    Now the barrier to fully realizing provider if choice, is that the native health system holds “travel to health – access to health” hostage still.

    But, if there were adjustments made – such as the State DOT taking on medical transportation as a function that currently happens in other states, the “Native” health system would truly have to start focusing on quality health care in our American Society, not the socialized healthcare that has plagued our people. i.e. They would be forced to compete – which also means REMOVING the blanket Federal Tort Claims Act which has historically been in place INSTEAD of Medical Malpractice Insurance for the providers and facilities.

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