Open Search
Close Search

To watch the full Summit, Click Here

Dear Fellow Alaskans,

Last fall, I had an extremely moving meeting in Washington, D.C. with a group of Alaskan women who were attending the UNITE to Face Addiction Rally. Each woman had her own powerful story of facing addiction, and as the conversation drew to a close, there was not a dry eye in the room. Since becoming a senator, that was the most poignant meeting I’ve been a part of. Action needed to be taken to help my fellow Alaskans back home who are struggling with this epidemic.  

I will convene a Wellness Summit in Palmer dedicated to conquering the opioid and heroin epidemic. Federal officials from several agencies will attend to hear what unique obstacles Alaskans face when in recovery, as well as witness the indomitable spirit of Alaskans who have overcome those obstacles. Whether you are a caretaker, a medical professional, a family member, a friend, a person in recovery, or a citizen looking for more information, I would be honored if you would attend to help us conquer this epidemic that’s ravaging so many lives across our state and throughout the country.  

At the summit, the second in charge at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Deputy Secretary Mary Wakefield, will be the keynote speaker. HHS provides many services and opportunities, including overseeing grants for community health centers, guidance for opioid prescribing practices, and regulations on treatment centers. 

The U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy will also be in Palmer. He has been touring the country with his “Turn the Tide Rx” campaign to meet with doctors and relay the message that doctors can help stop prescription opioid abuse. I am excited for him to join us and connect with Alaskans.

Dr. Jennifer Lee, Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Deputy Undersecretary for Health Policy and Services, and Dr. Karen Drexler, VHA Acting National Mental Health Program Director for Addictive Disorders will both attend and present to make sure that the state with the most veterans per capita is not forgotten in their efforts to best care for veterans. 

I am committed to focusing our time together at the summit to produce tangible solutions that the attending federal officials and I can take back to DC.  

Along with other notable Alaskans, a number of the women I met last fall will be there to ensure that Alaska’s story of combatting this crisis is told. I need your help to empower those in need, their loved ones, and all Alaskans on this journey of recovery. There is hope for our future. Please join us to share in this experience. All of us have a role in helping stem this crisis, and all are needed to ensure that we don’t lose another person to addiction.

Sincerely, 

AGENDA

REGISTRATION – 8:30am

START – 9:00am

MORNING SESSION

Welcome by Michael Tucker – Knik Tribal Council

Alaskan Speakers:

The women who inspired the summit- Kara Nelson, Terria Walters, Christina Love, Kim Whitaker, and Julee Douglas

Gloria O’Neill – President and CEO, Cook Inlet Tribal Council

Jeff Jessee – CEO, Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority

Federal Speakers:

Dr. Mary Wakefield – Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Dr. Jennifer Lee – Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Policy and Services, Veterans Health Administration

Dr. Karen Drexler – Acting National Mental Health Program Director for Addictive Disorders, Veterans Health Administration

Science of Addiction:

Dr. Joshua Sonkiss – Medical Director, Fairbanks Community Mental Health Services

LUNCH – 12pm

AFTERNOON SESSION

Fireside Chat with U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy moderated by Alaska Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jay Butler

Breakout Sessions in the Machetanz Building

Panel Discussion moderated by Dr. Jay Butler

Closing Remarks – Senator Sullivan

END – 3:30pm

Additional Coverage & Reading:

August 4th, 2016

9:00 AM – 3:30 PM

Mat-Su College
8295 College Drive
Palmer, AK 99645

Map It

Dr. Mary Wakefield
Deputy Secretary
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Mary Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N., serves as the Acting Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Prior to becoming Acting Deputy Secretary, Dr. Wakefield was administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) from 2009 to 2015. HRSA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, works to strengthen the health care workforce, build healthy communities, increase health equity, and provide health care and support services to people who are geographically isolated, economically or medically vulnerable, or live in a health professional shortage area.

Dr. Wakefield joined HRSA from the University of North Dakota (UND), where she was associate dean for rural health at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

In the 1990s, she served as chief of staff to two North Dakota senators: Kent Conrad (D) and Quentin Burdick (D).

She also has served as director of the Center for Health Policy, Research and Ethics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., and worked on site as a consultant to the World Health Organization’s Global Programme on AIDS in Geneva, Switzerland.

Dr. Wakefield is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and a member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM). She served on the IOM committee that produced the landmark reports To Err is Human and Crossing the Quality Chasm. She also co-chaired the IOM committee that produced the report Health Professions Education and chaired the committee that produced the report Quality through Collaboration: Health Care in Rural America.

In addition, she has served on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, as chair of the National Advisory Council for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, as a member of President Clinton’s Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry, and as a member of the National Advisory Committee to HRSA’s Office of Rural Health Policy.

Dr. Wakefield is a native of Devils Lake, N.D. She has a bachelor of science degree in nursing from the University of Mary in Bismarck and master’s and doctoral degrees in nursing from the University of Texas at Austin.

Vice Admiral Dr. Vivek Murthy
Surgeon General
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy was confirmed on December 15, 2014 as the 19th U.S. Surgeon General. As “America’s Doctor,” he is responsible for communicating the best available scientific information to the public regarding ways to improve personal and public health. Dr. Murthy also oversees operations of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, comprised of approximately 6,700 uniformed health officers who serve to promote, protect, and advance the health and safety of our nation and our world.

For the past two decades, Dr. Murthy has devoted himself to improving public health through the lenses of service, clinical care, research, education, and entrepreneurship. The son of immigrants from India, he discovered a love for the art of healing early in his childhood while spending time at his father’s medical clinic in Miami. After earning his Bachelor’s degree from Harvard and his M.D. and M.B.A. degrees from Yale, he completed residency training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School where he later joined the faculty as an internal medicine physician and instructor. As a clinician-educator, Dr. Murthy has cared for thousands of patients and trained hundreds of residents and medical students.

When he was 17 years old, Dr. Murthy and his sister co-founded VISIONS, an HIV/AIDS education program in India and the U.S, which he led for eight years. He also co-founded the Swasthya project (“health and wellbeing” in Sanskrit), a community health partnership in rural India designed to train women to be health providers and educators. Dr. Murthy also has conducted research on vaccine development and studied the participation of women and minorities in clinical trials. He is a healthcare entrepreneur who launched a successful software technology company, TrialNetworks, to improve research collaboration and enhance the efficiency of clinical trials around the world. Most recently, Dr. Murthy served as the president of Doctors for America, a non-profit organization comprised of more than 16,000 physicians and medical students in all 50 states who work with patients and policymakers to build a high quality, affordable healthcare system for all.

Dr. Murthy firmly believes that our nation’s greatest asset has always been its people. Building a stronger, healthier America is his highest priority as the U.S. Surgeon General.

Dr. Jennifer Lee
Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Policy and Services
Veterans Health Administration

Jennifer S. Lee, MD serves as the Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Policy and Services.  In this position, Dr. Lee provides guidance to the Under Secretary for Health on matters related to health care policy, strategic objectives, and policy requirements for legislatively mandated health care delivery programs. She also provides leadership for the various Health Policy and Services programs within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to ensure VA’s overall strategic objectives and agency priority goals are met.

Dr. Lee comes to the VHA from Virginia state government where she served as the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Resources responsible for managing a $13 billion budget and overseeing 11 agencies with over 16,000 employees. The Secretariat comprised 30 percent of the state budget and encompassed all the state’s major health care and social service programs, including Medicaid, Behavioral Health, Social Services, Public Health, and Aging and Rehabilitation.

Previously, Dr. Lee served as a White House Fellow in VA’s Office of the Secretary where she led the effort to employ Veteran combat medics and corpsmen in VA Medical Centers as advanced technicians, known as Intermediate Care Technicians. She also served as the VA liaison to Joining Forces, an initiative begun by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to support Veterans, Servicemembers, and their families. As a special advisor to the VHA Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Health, Dr. Lee continued her work to facilitate partnerships by launching the VHA Office of Community Engagement.

Dr. Lee previously served as a health policy fellow on the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. She served on the Virginia Board of Medicine from 2008-11. She was a Policy Research Scholar at George Washington University, where she held a joint appointment in emergency medicine and health policy and researched and lectured extensively on policy topics.  She also developed a Health Policy Fellowship Program to train physician leaders, many of whom are now leading change in the public and private sector.

Dr. Lee received her bachelor’s in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University and her medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine. She completed her residency in emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital and is board-certified in Emergency Medicine. She is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at George Washington University and a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians. She is also a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Dr. Karen Drexler
Acting National Mental Health Program Director for Addictive Disorders
Veterans Health Administration

Dr. Karen Drexler is board certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She serves as Acting National Mental Health Program Director for Addictive Disorders in Mental Health Services, Office of Patient Care Services in the Department of Veterans Affairs.

She also serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University School of Medicine where she served as Addiction Psychiatry Residency Training Director from 2002 to 2014. She has served as principle investigator and co-investigator on clinical trials in addiction treatment and translational research on the neurobiology of addiction. She has served as a member and Chairperson for the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology Addiction Psychiatry Examination Committee and as a course director for the American Society of Addiction Medicine Review Course in Addiction Medicine. She currently serves as a member of the American Psychiatric Association Council on Addictions, as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of CADCA (the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America). She continues to actively practice addiction psychiatry at the Atlanta VA Medical Center.

Dr. Jay Butler
Chief Medical Officer
Alaska Department of Health & Social Services

Jay C. Butler, MD was appointed by Governor Bill Walker as Chief Medical Officer for the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services and Director of the Division of Public Health in December 2014. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina Medical School, has completed clinical trainings at Vanderbilt and Emory Universities, and maintains clinical board certifications in infectious diseases, internal medical, and pediatrics. Previously, Dr. Butler was Senior Director for Community Health Services at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, where he was also a clinical infectious diseases consultant and Medical Director for Infection Control and Employee Health. Earlier work includes serving as Chief Medical Officer of the Alaska Department of Health Social Services from 2007 to 2009, Alaska State Epidemiologist, 2005-07, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Arctic Investigations Program, 1998-2005, and medical epidemiologist in CDC’s National Center for Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, 1991-98.

Dr. Joshua Sonkiss
Medical Director
Fairbanks Community Mental Health Services

Joshua Sonkiss, MD is a board-certified psychiatrist with a wide range of experience.  He first came to Alaska in 1989 and worked as a commercial fisherman, climbing instructor and substitute teacher while earning his undergraduate degrees at the University of Alaska Anchorage.  He attended medical school at McGill University in Canada, completed his psychiatry residency at the University of Utah and worked as a Designated Examiner for the State of Utah’s probate court system.  After completing a forensic fellowship at the University of Rochester, he returned to Alaska, where his practice has focused on severe mental illness and co-occurring substance-use disorders in hospital, residential and outpatient settings. 

Dr. Sonkiss spent four years as Medical Director of the Behavioral Health Unit at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, one of Alaska’s major inpatient mental health treatment centers.  He spent two years as a community psychiatrist in Barrow, providing mental health and addiction treatment in some of Alaska’s most remote communities.  He served two years as Medical Director of the Boys and Girls Home of Alaska, a residential treatment center for adolescents, where he led an initiative that reduced physical restraint use by ninety-four percent. Dr. Sonkiss is currently Medical Director of Fairbanks Community Mental Health Services, a community mental health center that serves Alaskans with severe mental illness. He works part-time at Turning Point Counseling, a clinic dedicated to addiction treatment.

Community service and peer education are among Dr. Sonkiss’s core values.

He has received awards for teaching and advocacy. He helped launch a Dialectical Behavior Therapy Clinic at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in order​ ​to meet​ the needs of patients with very high suicide risk.  He is past President of the Alaska Psychiatric Association and a current member of the organization’s Continuing Medical Education Committee, which organizes Alaska’s largest continuing education conference for mental health professionals.  He is a member of the all-volunteer Editorial Board of the Carlat Addiction Treatment Report, a continuing medical education newsletter that does not rely on pharmaceutical industry sponsorship.  He became Editor-In-Chief for the publication in 2016.  

Dr. Sonkiss holds board certification in general, forensic and adolescent psychiatry. He estimates that across these specialties, sixty to seventy percent of his patients suffer from substance abuse or addiction.  He lives in Fairbanks with his family.

Jeff Jessee
Chief Executive Officer
Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority

Jeff Jessee currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority (The Trust). The Trust is a state corporation that administers the Mental Health Trust, a perpetual endowment managed on behalf of people with mental illness, developmental disabilities, chronic alcoholism, and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia. The Trust operates much like a private foundation, using its resources to ensure that Alaska has a comprehensive mental health program and to affect long-term change and improvements in the systems that serve Trust beneficiaries.

Jeff began his career in Alaska in 1980 as an attorney for the Disability Law Center. Over the next 15 years he represented hundreds of individuals with mental disabilities. He was involved in many successful statewide task forces and committees working to address issues such as deinstitutionalization, guardianship, civil commitment, funding formulas, special education and housing.

In 1985, Jeff represented a subclass in the litigation involving the state’s mismanagement of the Alaska Mental Health Land Trust, which was created by the federal government before statehood. He worked to forge a coalition of interested parties, including consumers, developers, environmentalists, tourism interests, and others, to construct a settlement. Upon approval of the settlement by the State Supreme Court in 1995, Jeff became the Chief Executive Officer of The Trust. As a leader and advocate for Trust beneficiaries, Jeff is responsible for leveraging Trust income and developing partnerships to enhance beneficiary-related services throughout the state.

Jeff is active on several non-profit and philanthropic boards, including Philanthropy Northwest, Alaska Funders Group, Operations Board for The Foraker Group, Behavioral Health Sub Committee of the Denali Commission’s Health Facilities Committee and Alaska Red Ribbon Coalition Executive Board. He is also a tireless advocate for the homeless and currently serves on the Governor’s Council on the Homeless and chairs the Alaska Housing Trust Steering Committee, which advocates for housing programs and funding to support Alaska’s homeless.

A native of California, Jeff earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice from California State University, Sacramento, and a law degree Q.D. from the University of California, Davis School of Law.

Kara Nelson
Executive Director
Juneau Haven House

Gloria ONeill
President & Chief Executive Officer
Cook Inlet Tribal Council

Serving as President and CEO of Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC) since 1998, Gloria O’Neill has led the organization’s growth in becoming one of the major social service providers in Alaska. Through rigorous attention to community-based results, Ms. O’Neill has established CITC’s national reputation as a leading innovator of effective and replicable approaches to overcoming disparities in education, employment, family preservation and substance dependency. CITC provides nearly 50 essential programs serving more than 12,000 Alaska Native and American Indian people each year.

Ms. O’Neill currently serves as a member of the University of Alaska Board of Regents. She is also a member of the Alaskan Command Civilian Advisory Board and Founder of Upper One Games, LLC. In her role of President and CEO of CITC Enterprises Inc. (CEI), Ms. O’Neill serves as Executive Chair and board member of E-Line Ventures, LLC.

At the national level, Ms. O’Neill was appointed by former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius to serve on the Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee (STAC), and is a former member of the Department of the Interior Tribal/Interior Budget Council and the Race and Ethnicity Advisory Committee of the U.S. Census Bureau. Ms. O’Neill also served as a Board member of the National CASA Association, and is a Fellow of the Annie E. Casey Foundation Children and Family Fellowship Program.

Ms. O’Neill earned her Master of Business Administration degree from Alaska Pacific University, and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology, with a minor in Business Administration from the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Originally from Soldotna, Alaska, Ms. O’Neill is of Yup’ik and Irish descent.

Lisa Murkowski
U.S Senator

Senator Lisa Murkowski is the first Alaskan-born Senator and only the sixth United States Senator to serve the state. The state’s senior Senator, Lisa Murkowski is a third-generation Alaskan, born in Ketchikan and raised in towns across the state: Wrangell, Juneau, Fairbanks and Anchorage. Since joining the Senate in 2002, Senator Murkowski has been a strong advocate for Alaska on the important issues facing the state, including energy, health care, education, military/veterans’ affairs and infrastructure development.

Only the 32nd female to serve in the United States Senate since its founding in 1789, Senator Murkowski has assumed leadership roles quickly. She is the Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and also serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee, where she is the Chairman of the Interior and Environment Subcommittee. Senator Murkowski is a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee – the first Alaskan to serve on that panel – and also is a senior member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.

She earned a B.A. in economics from Georgetown University in 1980 and a law degree from Willamette University in 1985. Prior to her appointment to the United States Senate, Senator Murkowski practiced commercial law in Anchorage and served three terms in the Alaska State House of Representatives. She was elected to a full six-year U.S. Senate term in 2004, and was re-elected in 2010 in a historic write-in campaign, the first successful write-in effort to the Senate since 1954.

Senator Murkowski is married to Verne Martell and they have two sons. She enjoys spending time with her family in the Alaska outdoors.

Don Young
U.S Congressman

Congressman Don Young was re-elected to the 114th Congress in 2014 to serve his 22nd term as Alaska’s only Representative to the United States House of Representatives. First sworn in as a freshman to the 93rd Congress after winning a special election on March 6, 1973, Congressman Young is today the 1st ranking Republican member and the 3rd ranking overall member of the House of Representatives.

Congressman Young served as Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee from 1995 to 2001 and then as the Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee from 2001-2007. In the 110th Congress, Representative Young returned to the helm of the Resources Committee to lead his fellow Republicans as the Ranking Member. In the 112th Congress, he was chosen to serve as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Alaska Native and Indian Affairs – a position he maintains today. Congressman Young currently serves as a senior Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and House Natural Resources Committee.

Congressman Young calls Fort Yukon, Alaska home; a remote village of approximately 700 people located 7 miles above the Arctic Circle in Alaska’s central interior region. Born on June 9, 1933 in Meridian, California, he earned his associate degree at Yuba Junior College in 1952, and his bachelor’s degree in teaching at Chico State College in 1958. Between earning these degrees, he served in the US Army’s 41st Tank Battalion from 1955 to 1957.

When he first moved to Alaska, Congressman Young made a living in construction and tried his hand at commercial fishing, trapping, and in the search for gold. In Fort Yukon he taught in a 25-student, 5th grade elementary class in the Bureau of Indian Affairs school. Constructed of logs, the school had a wood stove that kept his Alaska Native students warm in the sub-freezing, arctic winter. With the annual spring break-up of the river ice, he captained his own tug and barge operation to deliver products and supplies to villages along the Yukon River. Even today, he remains the only licensed mariner in Congress.

It was in Fort Yukon that Rep. Young met and married a young bookkeeper named Lu. Lu was always at the Congressman’s side and supported him throughout his public service career. Lu and Don were married for 46 years. They were blessed with and raised two daughters, Joni and Dawn, and 14 grandchildren. Mrs. Young passed away on August 2, 2009. Although Congressman Young never imagined finding love again, on June 9, 2015 he married Anne Garland Walton, a Fairbanks-area flight nurse and proud mother of two children and six grandchildren.

Congressman Young first entered public service in 1964 when he was elected Mayor of Fort Yukon. Two years later, Alaskan voters elected him to the State Legislature in Juneau where he served in the State House from 1966 to 1970, and later in the State Senate from 1970 to 1973.

Just hours after being sworn in to United States House of Representatives in 1973, he found himself leading the historic battle for approval of the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline. Often citing this as the single most important achievement in his career, Congressman Young stated, “Next to statehood itself, the most historical legislation passed that affected every Alaskan then, now, and in the future, was the passage of the pipeline legislation.”

That same year, his colleagues honored him as the “Freshman Congressman of the Year.” He went on to gain a key appointment on the then Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee where he pushed through the 200-mile fishing limit critical to Alaska’s fishing industry. He fought against federal control of lands and resources to which Alaskans are rightfully entitled – a battle he continues today with the same vigor. In 1997, he passed by a 419 to 1 vote, the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act, which sets guidelines and priority uses within our nation’s 550-plus wildlife refuges.

Congressman Young proudly serves as the “Congressman for All Alaska” and loves his role as the only Alaskan Representative in Congress. Renewed by the challenges and goals of the 114th Congress and his committee positions, Congressman Young will continue to champion legislation and funding for programs benefiting Alaska and the nation. His vision remains the same – to provide citizens with the opportunity for a better life not just for today, but also for tomorrow and the future.

sponsorship courtesy of: