Alaska Assisted Living Research Guide

SeniorLiving FAQ

By David Besnette

 


In this research guide you will learn how to get a COMPLETE, non-commercial, Statewide list of Assisted Living & Senior Care Facilities Provided by the State of Alaska.

Alaska is certainly not one of the easiest states to research assisted living in.   For one, there is so much geographical land to cover, and not enough facilities servicing all of it.   

Alaska, although they have gotten better in recent years, still has some catching up to do when it comes to what they offer from their state-supported websites and databases.    

Still, you can learn a lot if you know where to look, and this post will provide you with the resources and direction to find out just about everything you need to know about assisted living and senior care options statewide in Alaska.

Watch our tutorial on How To Get a Complete List of Assisted Living Facilities in Alaska:

Alaska’s Safest Facilities


Safe Facilities

Virtually everything you need to know to research assisted living in Alaska is listed here.  You will learn:

  • How to get a complete list of assisted living facilities statewide in Alaska, including DIRECT contact emails/numbers.
  • How to view the State’s assisted living regulations and Statutes
  • Licensure Information
  • Resident Rights

Note: Most commercial senior care sites don’t (and won’t) include the information I provide below.

How To Find A Complete List of Assisted Living Facilities in Alaska

One of the things that the State of Alaska has done well with is providing a comprehensive, and free list of assisted living facilities for the **entire** state in a easy-to-read and sort Excel spreadsheet.

Yes, this list is amazing and it looks like this:

List of Assisted Living Facilities Alaska example

It’s a very ‘wide’ data sheet – too wide to fit on this page, but it includes some great information, including the DIRECT email address and contact information for the facility owner/administrative staff.   Here is a second screen grab of what’s included in the spreadsheet:

Facility List part b

You can access this full list and spreadsheet by visiting the Assisted Living Licensing page on the Department of Health and Social Services page for Alaska here:

http://dhss.alaska.gov/dhcs/Pages/cl/all/default.aspx

The link to the spreadsheet is about 1/2 way down (see screen grab below where I have highlighted it):

Licensed Facilities

 

For Alaska Residents:

Availability

How To View Alaska’s Assisted Living Statutes and Regulations

Here’s another item that most senior care sites won’t include, State Regulations for Assisted Living.  To me, this is such a great way for any family, caregiver, senior, or current assisted living or memory care resident to learn about what to expect from the care they receive as it relates to the rules ‘on the books’ as put out by the State of Alaska.

The regulations .pdf that you can get is very, very comprehensive (158 pages at the time of this writing) and covers virtually every aspect of Assisted Living in Alaska.

Note:  Every assisted living or residential care home should have a copy of these regulations handy, and should be able to provide you with a copy of them if requested.

Here’s a snapshot of the document that talks about definitions for assisted living:

Regulations and definitions

To view Alaska’s rules and statutes for assisted living, you’ll need to simply visit the following page

http://dhss.alaska.gov/dhcs/Documents/cl/ALHRegulationsandStatutesEffectiveasof3-7-09.pdf

How To Choose A Senior Living Facility in Alaska:

I’d like to quickly highlight another great publication offered by the DHSS, which is a guide to choosing assisted living/senior care in Alaska.  Again, this is a completely free resource, and offers sound advice and guidance on navigating through the panoply of choices available to you.

The guide looks like this:

Alaska Guide to choosing care

A sample page from the guide talks about ‘What is assisted living’ in Alaska, and defines it specifically.  This is important, in that each state offers a unique definition for assisted living, so it is not uniform across all 50 states.

What is assisted living

Assisted Living Licensure

If you are interested in opening an assisted living home or residence in Alaska, you’ll need to follow a number of steps to obtain your license.    There is a ‘New Home Application’ packet which you’ll need to fill out, and this is again available straight from the DHSS website.    

There is also a phone number you can call if you have questions concerning licensure in Alaska. 

The number is (907) 334-2493.

The DHSS also offers workshops and training for assisted living applicants, and the class schedule and locations is listed on the DHSS site, as well as links to course materials.

You’ll also have access to a number of important forms and documents including

  • Administrators Designation Form
  • ALH Plan of Correction
  • License Application Renewal
  • Staffing Plan form
  • Grievance Procedure Sample

and much more.

Learning About Resident Rights

As is often the case, residents of assisted living homes are not entirely aware that they have specific rights, and implied dignities that are, or should be inherent to the care that they are receiving.  This is again, something that the facility owners and administrators should be able to provide residents, their families, and staff if requested.

I have included a Sample of the most recent (that I have access to) set of resident rights for the State of Alaska.

Resident Rights 1

Resident Rights 2

Resident Rights 3

Searchable Database for Assisted Living in Alaska

YES! There is one, and this is a terrific way to research assisted living facilities by area, and with a number of filter options.  The search page looks like this:

Alaska search for facilities

For assisted living, choose “Residential Supported Living-Assisted Living Homes” and you can search by region, which includes:

  • Anchorage
  • Interior
  • Northwest
  • Outside
  • Southcentral
  • Southeast
  • or Statewide

You can also search by specific city. A cool feature of this searchable page is that you can make your search printable, so you can get a hard copy (good for taking notes on as you tour around different facilities).

The data looks like this:

 

You’ll notice that when you click on “Medicaid Codes” you’ll get information on what Medicaid Waivers are accepted/supported.   In the example above, the first facility accepts/honors the Alaskans Living Independently (ALI) waiver.

You can learn about all of Alaska’s Home & Community Based Waivers here.

This handy chart will give you an idea of what each waiver covers.   Alaska’s four Medicaid Waivers (at this time) are:

  • ALI – Alaskans Living Independently
  • APDD – Adults with Physical and Developmental Disabilities
  • IDD – Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
  • CMCC – Children with Complex Medical Conditions

Waivers chart

Additional Resources

How To File a Complaint Against an Assisted Living Facility in Alaska – You can do so anonymously

Alaska Residents:


Availability

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