The head of Southeast Alaska's Native health service is leaving that job to take the top spot at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, a statewide organization.
Roald Helgesen was named president and chief executive of SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) four years ago. He's leaving in mid-December to become chief executive at the state consortium.
With the move, he leaves Southeast's largest private employer for an even bigger operation. The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium employs about 2,000 people and operates under a half-billion dollar annual budget. It was created in 1997 to manage health services for Native peoples across Alaska and is the state's biggest tribal health organization.
Helgesen grew up in Sitka and is a member of the Central Council of Tlingít and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. He previously held several different positions with SEARHC before leaving Alaska in 2004 for positions Outside. He returned in 2007.
In 2003, he was honored as one of Alaska's "Top Forty Under 40" by the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce and the Alaska Journal of Commerce.
The Southeast organization is launching a nationwide search to replace him.
Anchorage Daily News