By Stephanie Winter, DNP, FNP-C, ENP-C, PMHNP-BC — board-certified psychiatric nurse practitioner and owner, Anchor Psychiatric Group. Medically reviewed by Thomas Winter, MD.
Anchor Psychiatric Group is now scheduling new patients across the state of Alaska — from Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley to communities far off the road system.
Alaska has one of the most severe psychiatric provider shortages in the country. Most of the state is federally designated as a mental health professional shortage area [1], and for many Alaskans, seeing a psychiatric provider has traditionally meant months of waiting, a flight, or simply going without. We built this practice specifically for that problem.
What we treat
We provide psychiatric evaluation and ongoing medication management for adults and adolescents dealing with depression, anxiety, ADHD, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and seasonal affective disorder — a condition Alaskans know better than almost anyone, affecting roughly one in ten residents at our latitude [2]. Care is delivered by secure video, with appointments that work around fishing seasons, shift work, and village schedules. No referral is needed.
Who we are
Anchor is clinician-owned — not a venture-funded telehealth startup. Care is led by a board-certified psychiatric nurse practitioner with twenty years of advanced practice experience spanning emergency medicine and psychiatry, with an emergency-boarded physician serving as medical director. We know rural medicine because we have practiced it, and we built Anchor as the practice we’d want available for our own community: thorough evaluations, honest treatment plans, and real follow-up.
How to schedule
Visit www.anchorpsychiatricgroup.com and select “Request an Appointment,” or call 602-241-2828. New-patient appointments are currently available within 2-5 days. If you’re a clinician, therapist, or discharge planner looking for a psychiatric referral pathway for your patients, contact us directly — building those partnerships across Alaska is a core part of why we’re here.
References
- Health Resources and Services Administration. Health Professional Shortage Areas — Mental Health, Alaska. data.hrsa.gov.
- Booker JM, Hellekson CJ. Prevalence of seasonal affective disorder in Alaska. American Journal of Psychiatry. 1992;149(9):1176-1182.
This article is for education and is not medical advice or a substitute for evaluation by a qualified clinician. If you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7.