Health Care Facility Licensing & Certification
Inspections to ensure a facility can provide safe, acceptable health services
Overview
The state's licensing and certification process helps make sure that Alaska's health care facilities meet the standards needed to offer safe, quality services.
The Health Facilities Licensing and Certification Unit (HFLC), part of the Division of Health Care Services (HCS), is responsible for making sure health care facilities meet state and federal standards. For assisted living facilities, please see the Residential Licensing Unit, also a part of HCS.
Who qualifies?
Under state and federal rules and regulations, a wide range of facilities require state licensing, federal certification, or both. These include hospitals, hospice, and home health agencies,
We provide federally required certification services through an agreement with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). Certification allows a facility to participate in Medicare or Medicaid.
How to sign up
For information on how to apply for licensing and/or certification, select the facility type below.
For waivers from state or federal inspection requirements, look in Resources below to find the appropriate waiver request (for federal or state requirements).
Licensing & certification by facility type
Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs)
Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs)
Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs)
Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs)
CAHs represent a separate provider type with their own Medicare Conditions of Participation (CoP) as well as a separate payment method. The CoPs for CAHs are listed in the “Code of Federal Regulations” at 42 CFR 485 subpart F.
For more on licensing and oversight of CAHs in Alaska, see the Hospitals page:
End-Stage Renal Dialysis facilities (ESRDs)
End-Stage Renal Dialysis facilities (ESRDs)
ESRD facilities include:
Renal Transplantation Center
A hospital unit approved to directly furnish transplantation and other medical and surgical specialty services required for the care of ESRD transplant patients, including inpatient dialysis furnished directly or under arrangement. A renal transplantation center may also be a renal dialysis center.
Renal Dialysis Center
A renal dialysis center is a hospital unit that is approved to furnish the full spectrum of diagnostic, therapeutic, and rehabilitative services required for the care of ESRD dialysis patients (including inpatient dialysis furnished directly or under arrangement and outpatient dialysis). A hospital need not provide renal transplantation to qualify as a renal dialysis center.
Renal Dialysis Facility
A renal dialysis facility is a unit that is approved to furnish dialysis service(s) directly to ESRD patients.
Self Dialysis Unit
A self-dialysis unit is a unit that is part of an approved renal transplantation center, renal dialysis center, or renal dialysis facility, and which furnishes self-dialysis services.
For more on licensing and oversight of ESRDs in Alaska, see the ESRDs page:
Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)
Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)
Freestanding Birth Centers
Freestanding Birth Centers
Frontier Extended Stay Clinics
Frontier Extended Stay Clinics
General Acute Care Hospitals (GACHs)
General Acute Care Hospitals (GACHs)
Home Health Agencies (HHAs)
Home Health Agencies (HHAs)
Hospice
Full-service, Volunteer, and Non-Volunteer
Hospice
Full-service, Volunteer, and Non-Volunteer
Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals (LTACHs)
Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals (LTACHs)
Long-Term Care facilities (LTCs)
Long-Term Care facilities (LTCs)
A long-term care facility is designed to provide 24-hour care for individuals who are no longer able to live independently due to chronic illnesses, disabilities, or the effects of aging. The primary purpose of such facilities is to offer a supportive environment where residents can receive medical, physical, emotional, and social care that meets their daily needs.
For more on licensing and oversight of LTCs in Alaska, see the LTC Facilities page:
Outpatient Physical Therapy / Speech Pathology Providers
OPT/OSP facilities
Outpatient Physical Therapy / Speech Pathology Providers
OPT/OSP facilities
Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities (PRTFs)
Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities (PRTFs)
Residential Psychiatric Treatment Centers (RPTCs)
Residential Psychiatric Treatment Centers (RPTCs)
A Residential Psychiatric Treatment Center (RPTC) is defined as a secure or semi-secure facility, or an inpatient program in another facility, that provides, under the direction of a physician, psychiatric diagnostic, evaluation, and treatment services on a 24-hour-a-day basis to children with severe emotional or behavioral disorders.
Some RPTCs qualify to be Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities (PRTFs)
For more information on RPTC and PRTF licensing, oversight, and monitoring in Alaska see the RPTC facilities page.
Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)
Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)
Rural Primary Care Hospitals (RPCHs)
Rural Primary Care Hospitals (RPCHs)
For information on licensing, oversight, and monitoring of Rural Primary Care Hospitals (RPCHs), see the Hospitals & Specialized Hospitals page.
Specialized Hospitals
Psychiatric, Substance Abuse, & Rehabilitation hospitals
Specialized Hospitals
Psychiatric, Substance Abuse, & Rehabilitation hospitals
Subacute Mental Health facilities
Subacute Mental Health facilities
Once regulations are final, entities that meet the definition of Subacute Mental Health Facilities must become licensed by HFLC and adhere to the crisis center licensing requirements.
For more information and interim guidance on Subacute Mental Health Facility licensing, oversight, and monitoring in Alaska, see the Subacute Mental Health Facilities page.