Alaska Health Care Commission

Membership Roster & Biographies

Voting Members

Ward Hurlburt, M.D., MPH, of Anchorage, is the Chief Medical Officer for the Alaska Department of Health & Social Services and serves as chair of the Commission. He currently also serves as the Director of the state Division of Public Health.  Dr. Hurlburt is board certified in surgery, medical management, preventive medicine, and as a physician executive.  He currently holds medical licenses in Alaska, Washington and California.  He previously worked for the U.S. Public Health Service for 32 years, including long assignments with the Indian Health Service in Alaska.  During that period he served as hospital administrator in Dillingham, hospital administrator and chief of surgery at the Alaska Native Medical Center, and as deputy director of the Alaska Area Native Health Service.  Since retirement from the U.S. PHS he has worked as vice president, chief medical officer and consultant for managed care organizations in Washington, Utah and Oregon.  Dr. Hurlburt obtained his medical degree from George Washington Medical School, and completed a Master’s of Public Health degree at Johns Hopkins University.  He fills the seat designated for the state’s Chief Medical Officer (designated chair).

 

Patrick Branco,of Ketchikan, is the regional CEO of Ketchikan General Hospital.  He has also served in the administration of Divine Providence Health Center in Ivanhoe, Minnesota as well as the Fairview-University Medical Center in Hibbing, Minnesota. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1979 – 1995 as a strategic medical planner, medical staff administrator, and director of ambulatory care.  He earned a bachelor’s degree in healthcare services from Southern Illinois University in 1984 and a master’s degree in healthcare administration from Baylor University in 1991.  He is currently Chairman of the Board for the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association (ASHNHA).  He fills the seat designated for the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association (term expires 1/15/2012).

 

C. Keith Campbell, of Seward, is a retired hospital administrator and national leader of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). Campbell served as chief executive officer of Seward General Hospital from 1971-90, and also held interim jobs as administrator of Seward’s Wesleyan Rehabilitation and Care Center, and of the Seward Chamber of Commerce. As a member of AARP’s national board of directors from 1996-2002, he served at different times as chairman and treasurer and on numerous AARP committees dealing with health care, insurance, finance, and government affairs. He has also been elected to the Seward City Council and school board, and to the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly. He fills the seat representing Alaskan health care consumers (term expires 1/15/2012).

 

Valerie Davidson,of Anchorage, is senior director of legal and inter-governmental affairs for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium in Anchorage, with extensive experience working in Bethel on Alaska Native health and tribal governance issues. She has previously worked for the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation and as a state legislative staffer on rural health care issues. Davidson earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Alaska Southeast, and a law degree from the University of New Mexico’s School of Law. She fills the seat representing Alaska’s tribal health community (term expires 1/15/2014).

 

Jeffrey Davis, of Anchorage, has been involved in the delivery and funding of health care services for over 25 years. He has served 12 years as president of Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska, which insures 180,000 Alaskans statewide, and previously was Premera’s vice president of network development in Alaska, Washington and Oregon. Davis earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Whitman College and a master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Washington. He fills the seat representing Alaska’s health insurance industry (term expires 1/15/2013).

 

Emily Ennis, of Fairbanks, is the Executive Director of Fairbanks Resource Agency, a non-profit corporation serving Interior Alaskans who have disabilities. She is currently the President of the Alaska State Association on Developmental Disabilities, and also serves on the American Network of Community Options and Resources.  She is a former mental health specialist with the Marion County (Oregon) Mental Health Program, earned a bachelor’s degree from Western State College in 1970, and a master’s degree in behavioral sciences from Western State College in 1972.  She fills the seat designated for the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority (term expires 1/15/2014)..

 

Col. Paul Friedrichs, M.D., of Anchorage, is the Commander of the Air Force/Veterans’ Affairs Joint Venture Hospital at Elmendorf-Ft. Richardson Joint Base. He is also the Air Force representative to the American Medical Association. He has served in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years in several capacities, including Chief of Medical Operations of the Air Force Space Command, and commander of medical squadrons in Iraq.  He is the recipient of the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal as well at the Bronze Star.  A board-certified urologist, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University in 1986, a medical degree from the Uniformed Services University in 1990, and a master’s degree in strategic studies from the National War College in 2008.  He fills the seat designated for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs health care industry (term expires 1/15/2012).

 

Allen Hippler, of Anchorage, is the chief financial officer of Faulkner Walsh Constructors.  From 2003-2010 he was a vice president with First National Bank of Alaska.  Active in the Bethel community during the time that he lived there, he was a member of the Bethel Chamber of Commerce from 2004-2010 and a member of the City of Bethel Finance Committee from 2003-2009.  He served as the committee’s chairman from 2007-2009.  Hippler holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Dallas.  He fills the seat designated for the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce (term expires 1/15/2014).

 

Timothy Noah Laufer, M.D., of Anchorage, is a family physician at Medical Park Family Care and also serves as president of the practice.  He has also practiced at Valley Family Medicine and Valley Medical Center Rapid Care Clinic in Renton, Washington. Board certified in family medicine, he earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado in 1988 and a medical degree from Hahnemann University School of Medicine.  He is a graduate of Robert Service High School in Anchorage.  He fills the seat representing Alaska’s primary care physicians (term expires 1/15/2012).

 

David Morgan, of Anchorage, is the Director of Reimbursement for Southcentral Foundation. He is also Chairman of the Municipality of Anchorage Health and Human Services Commission.  He has worked in health care for over 30 years, serving Alaskan health care organizations’ clinical operations, financial planning, and government relations for much of that time.  He is a member of the Alaska Primary Care Association, the Medicaid Tribal Task Force, the Healthcare Financial Manager Association, and the Alaska Medical Group Management Association.  He holds a bachelor’s degree from Morehead State University.  He fills the seat representing Alaska’s community health centers (term expires 1/15/2013).

 

Larry Stinson, M.D., of Palmer, is an anesthesiologist and co-owner of Advanced Pain Centers of Alaska, which operates clinics in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Wasilla. He has served as an anesthesiologist at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, a brigade surgeon for the 6th Infantry Division (Light) at Fort Wainwright, and as a university clinical instructor. A board-certified anesthesiologist, he earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1980, and a medical degree from the University of Washington in 1984. He fills the seat representing Alaska’s health care providers (term expires 1/15/2013).

Non-Voting Members

Linda Hall, of Anchorage, has been director of the Division of Insurance in the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development since 2003, and has 18 years experience as a commercial insurance broker. She is a past president of the Alaska Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers, and represented Alaska on the national organization’s board 1997-2003. She is also past chair of the Alaska Workers Compensation Review and Advisory Committee. Hall fills the seat representing the Office of the Governor

 

Representative Wes Keller, of Wasilla, has represented the Wasilla area in the Alaska State House of Representatives since 2007. He is co-chair of the House Health, Education and Social Services Committee, and chair of the Administrative Regulation Review Committee. Keller had previously worked eight years as a legislative aide, and as an Alaska Air National Guard pilot, building contractor, oilfield worker and contracting trainer. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1986. Keller was appointed by House Speaker Mike Chenault to fill the seat representing the House of Representatives on the commission..

 

Senator Donald Olson, M.D, J.D., of Golovin, has represented Northwest Alaska in the Alaska State Senate since 2000. He is a physician, commercial pilot and reindeer herder. Olson earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Minnesota, a medical degree from Oral Roberts University School of Medicine, and a law degree from the University of Colorado School of Law. He chairs the Community and Regional Affairs Committee, and sits on the Senate Finance Committee. Olson was appointed by Senate President Gary Stevens to fill the seat representing the Senate on the commission.

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