Katherine Gottlieb

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
SENATE
Sept. 30, 2004

KATHERINE GOTTLIEB

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, earlier this week the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation selected an outstanding Alaskan, Katherine Gottlieb, as one of 23 distinguished Americans who have been designated MacArthur Foundation Fellows for 2004. The MacArthur Fellowship is better known as the "Genius Award" and that term aptly describes my friend, Katherine Gottlieb.

Katherine, who is of Aleut and Filipino descent, is the Chief Executive Officer of Southcentral Foundation, which provides primary health care services to some 40,000 Alaska Natives in Anchorage and Southcentral Alaska. Southcentral Foundation is also a partner in the management and operation of the cutting edge Alaska Native Medical Center.

Notwithstanding her lofty title, Katherine is no "corner office" executive. Her first job at Southcentral Foundation's headquarters in Anchorage was receptionist. She took the job while undertaking undergraduate work at Alaska Pacific University. She worked her way up the ranks at Southcentral Foundation and went on to earn an MBA at Alaska Pacific University.

But Katherine didn't go to school in Anchorage to prepare for a career in healthcare. By the time she arrived in Anchorage, she had already demonstrated her commitment to the wellbeing of her Native people. Katherine began her healthcare career as a community health aide in her hometown of Seldovia, AK, a community of about 306 people which is not connected by road to the rest of Alaska, much less the continental United States.

In the roadless villages of rural Alaska, community health aides provide the link between the patient and medical resources available in the larger communities. Alaska's Community Health Aides are the front line health providers in our last frontier.

Perhaps it was this formative experience that led Katherine to champion the implementation of a patient centered healthcare delivery model at Southcentral Foundation. The MacArthur Foundation does not officially explain which qualities led them to select a particular nominee as a fellow. They explain that the fellowship is an investment in a person's originality, insight and potential.

But their announcement offers some clues about what led the foundation to select Katherine. The announcement observes that Katherine, by championing this patient centered delivery model, has transformed health care and related health programs in her Alaska Native community.

On February 10, 2003, Dr. Douglas Eby, Southcentral Foundation's Vice President for Medical Services, accepted the Indian Health Service Physician Leader of the Year Award. In his acceptance address he described the genesis of the patient centered delivery system as follows:

The Native community and Southcentral Foundation asked for a primary care system that was truly centered on the needs and wants of the patient and family, that was built on the foundational strengths and values already present in the Native community, that fully partnered with the patient and family, providing them with the information and tools they needed in their journey toward wellness, that provided optimal quality and access to every single Alaska Native and American Indian eligible for services . . . What we did was to take the best pieces of programs we could find nationally and internationally that supported the vision of the Anchorage Native community and Southcentral Foundation leadership and created our own system of care.

This system allows over 40,000 individuals and families to choose their primary care provider, enter into a long-term trusting relationship with them, have same day access for any reason, and fully partner in their journey toward wellness. It has resulted in these primary care patients decreasing their daytime use of the Urgent Care Center and Emergency Room by about 50%, use of specialty clinics by over 30% and total primary care visits by about 20%. Quality of care measures such as immunization rates, cancer screening rates, depression screening/treatment, chronic pain screening/treatment, etc. have all maintained or significantly improved. Patient satisfaction measures have been very positive. Support systems such as health education, nutrition, and social services have been fully integrated into the system.

Dr. Eby pointed out in that acceptance address that the patient centered health care model would not have been implemented without the visionary leadership of Katherine Gottlieb. In Dr. Eby's words, "This journey was going to happen. Katherine Gottlieb would accept nothing less."

The patient centered health care initiative is one of Katherine's many contributions. The MacArthur Foundation also took note of Katherine's creation of the Family Wellness Warriors Initiative, which seeks to revitalize the traditional role of Alaska Native men as protectors and providers, making them less inclined to fall into a pattern of domestic abuse.

They acknowledged Katherine's leadership with respect to the Dena A Coy Residential Treatment Center, which is the first residential facility for pregnant women in the United States focusing on prevention of fetal alcohol disorders and Pathway Home, a transitional living center which addresses the challenges of substance abuse, violence and suicide among Native teenagers.

These are just a few of the 75 medical, behavioral health and community services that moved the MacArthur Foundation to conclude, "Under Katherine Gottlieb's leadership, the Southcentral Foundation network has demonstrated that high-quality health care and effective preventive services are possible, even in communities facing obstacles of poverty and geographic isolation."

Alaska has known for many years what a treasure we have in Katherine Gottlieb. Now the Nation knows too. But Katherine is not one to rest on her laurels. An innovator and an entrepreneur, I have no doubt that this recognition will spur Katherine to even greater heights. But one thing is for sure. Katherine Gottlieb will never forget where she came from. She is anchored by the strength of her faith and her values and grounded by her Native heritage.

I join with all Alaskans in congratulating Katherine Gottlieb on this extraordinary accomplishment.