Railbelt Mental Health & Addictions

It is the mission of RMHA to provide education, outpatient services, and continuing care programs for individuals with substance abuse and mental health issues by implementing and maintaining individualized locally-accessible programs that are designed by our service-area communities and applicable to our peoples’ needs.

Railbelt Mental Health & Addictions is a non-profit out patient Community Behavioral Health Center located in interior Alaska.

Established on 3/6/1984, the agency serves the northern Railbelt region, which is bisected by the Parks Highway, having its northern boundary at the Fairbanks North Star Borough, and as its southern boundary, the Mat-Su Borough. This area is approximately 180 road miles along the George Parks Highways, and includes the communities of Nenana, Anderson, Clear Air Force Base, Healy, McKinley Village, Denali Park, and Cantwell. The year-round population is approximately 3100 people and increases in the summer with an additional 2500 summer residents, and an annual visitor count of close to one million drawn by Denali Park.

The Railbelt Mental Health Association oversees the agency. We maintain three permanent offices in Nenana, Healy, and Anderson. Itinerant offices are maintained in Denali Park (seasonally), and in Cantwell. Clients are seen at all locations; the administrative services are based in the Nenana office.

Railbelt Mental Health & Addictions embraces a number of general and currently held guidelines including:

Services should be provided with greatest possible accessibility for all people depending on funding and staffing levels.

Services should be provided that ensure the greatest degree of personal freedom for people, restricting this freedom only as a last resort and in accordance with existing ethics, laws, and standards.

Services should be maximally compatible with a persons culture, lifestyle, and neighborhood environment.

Services should be provided that are sensitive to a persons needs to maintain respect and confidentiality in the community.

Services must not be discriminatory in any way to any person on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, race, color creed, national origin, physical or mental differences, medical state, or religion.

Services must enhance the natural strength of a person, while only seeking to change behavior that:

the person wants to change; or

society, in the form of the court or other authorized agency, orders changed within due process and with the advised consent of the person.

Professional ethics and state standards apply to this program, as do the laws and regulations of the State of Alaska, and the Federal Government, including the American Disabilities Act.