Primary care at the Alaska Native Medical Center: a fully deployed "new model" of primary care.

Objectives: Beginning in the 1940s health care for Alaska Native people was delivered by the United States Indian Health Service. The transition to Alaska Native ownership was completed in 1998-9 with the transfer of the Alaska Native Medical Center to Alaska Native corporations.

Methods: The Native leaders of Southcentral Foundation made a conscious decision to redesign the medical primary care system around the core premise of optimizing long-term, trusting, accountable relationships.