The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly passed through consent agenda an ordinance that would approve and accept funds from the State of Alaska Office of Emergency Medical Services (SOEMS) to expand the Mobile Integrated Healthcare Program in Nikiski.
State Office of Emergency Medical Services received funds from the “Healthy and Equitable Communities Program,” a federal passthrough program under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is supporting Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) Services across the state. Locally, the Nikiski Fire Service Area meets the qualifications to be a pass-through recipient of the funds in the amount of $250,000.
The MIH service was initially established in Nikiski as a “pilot” program in 2021 when federal funding was made available from State Office of EMS. At that time the funding was provided via the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
The passage of ordinance 2023-19-21, sponsored by Borough Mayor Peter Micciche, during the most recent borough assembly meeting will expand the MIH program to include the Nikiski Fire Department.
Assembly member Brent Hibbert said that expanding the Mobile Integrated Healthcare program to include paramedics will alleviate burdens on the hospital and emergency room. “What this program does is if you have maybe some of the chronic ill patients that are out in the Nikiski area, rather than have [them] come all the way into the hospital to have something done, sometimes these paramedics can go out there and do some stuff in home, which causes less stress at the ER and keeps the patients from having to go to the hospital.”
The Nikiski Fire Department MIH program will be awarded $250,000 for the grant period ending May 31, 2024.