Southcentral Foundation (SCF) is an Alaska Native health care organization established by Cook Inlet Region, Inc.

Cook Inlet Region, Inc.

Cook Inlet Region, Inc., or CIRI, is one of thirteen Alaska Native regional corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 in settlement of aboriginal land claims. Cook Inlet Region, Inc. was incorporated in Alaska on June 8, 1972...

 (CIRI) in 1982 to improve the health and social conditions of Alaska Natives, enhance culture, and empower individuals and families to take charge of their lives. Alaska Native people own, manage, direct, design, and drive our Southcentral Foundation. Under the leadership of President and CEO Katherine Gottlieb

Katherine Gottlieb

Katherine Gottlieb is the president and CEO of the Southcentral Foundation, an Alaska Native Healthcare Organization.She graduated from Alaska Pacific University with a Bachelor of Arts degree, a master’s in business administration, and an honorary doctorate....

, Southcentral Foundation has distinguished itself as one of Alaska’s largest federally recognized tribal health organizations, serving the needs of Alaska Natives populating a geographical area of 107413 square miles (278,198.4 km²). A wide range of medical services and human services are provided to Alaska Natives and American Indians living in the Municipality of Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

In 1998, SCF assumed ownership and management of the primary care program of the Alaska Native Medical Center

Alaska Native Medical Center

The Alaska Native Medical Center is a non-profit health center based in Anchorage, Alaska which provides medical services to around 138,000 Alaska Natives and American Indians in Alaska. It acts as both the secondary and tertiary care referral hospital for the Alaska Region of the Indian Health...

 in Anchorage, Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, USA, and in January 1999, began jointly managing and operating ANMC, along with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium is a non-profit health organization based in Anchorage, Alaska which provides health services to about 130,000 Alaska Natives and American Indians in Alaska...

. With this transition, Alaska became the first state in the nation to have all of its health facilities for Native Americans managed by Native organizations.