Community Health Aide Trainee — Your Next Career
By Southcentral Foundation Public Relations and Corporate Communications
“A community health aide is everything in the village; we are 911 dispatch, the first responders, the clinic provider, we do it all,” Southcentral Foundation Community Health Aide Practitioner Amanda Bybee said.
Southcentral Foundation Community Health Aide Practitioner Amanda Bybee.
Bybee joined SCF as a community health aide trainee at McGrath Regional Health Center in 2013 after discovering a passion for medical care during an emergency medical technician course. As a trainee, she received on-the-job training to progress to the practitioner level through the Community Health Aide Program in partnership with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. Bybee’s practitioner level training, which included travel to the Anchorage training center for clinicals, was completed over the course of a few years.
Bybee is one of many trainees and community health aide/practitioners who provide acute, chronic, emergency, and preventive medical health care in rural communities under the direction of medical providers in Anchorage.
“The training center is awesome,” she said. “They are wonderful teachers. Being able to work in the hospital and shadow a wide range of providers is so amazing. Also working with referral providers is very cool, too. You learn so much and you are doing it alongside other people who are trying to help their communities as well.”
The community health aide/practitioner trainee position allows for professional growth with four progression levels and is a great entry-level opportunity for those interested in the health care field. The cost of training and travel required to complete the three-to-four-week course in Anchorage is covered by the program and SCF.
In addition to program-covered costs, benefits include:
Community health aide/practitioners at Southcentral Foundation provide essential health care in rural Alaska.
Education through ANTHC Community Health Aide Program. Learn more at akchap.org/community-health-aide.
- Sign-on bonus
- Relocation assistance
- Salary increases with each level of training progression
- Over 3.5 weeks of paid leave during the first year of employment, increasing up to 6.5 weeks annually with additional hours of paid leave every pay period
- One to three prepaid airfare tickets to Anchorage annually from your home clinic location for rest and relaxation to support self and family
- Certification fees covered (CHA/P, ETT/EMT, BLS)
- Employer-matched 401(k)
- One hour per week of paid wellness leave
- Courses qualify for college credits with Alaska Pacific University
SCF is recruiting multiple community health aide/practitioner trainee positions in Nikolai, Takotna, St. Paul, Kokhanok, Pedro Bay, and more.
Anyone with a high school diploma or GED who is interested in entering the health care field in rural Alaska can apply online at southcentralfoundation.com.
