On May 1st, Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic announced that they were awarded a National grant to expand cancer prevention and reproductive healthcare on the Kenai Peninsula.
Last week the Direct Relief and The Pfizer Foundation announced the third cohort of the Innovation Awards in Community Health, supporting infectious disease prevention and management in underserved communities. Through $4.5 million in grants over two years, the program will support 16 U.S. safety-net community health organizations across 11 states, expanding access to prevention, education, screening, testing, treatment, and care. Darren Back, President with The Pfizer Foundation, explained that the partnership with Direct Relief, supports health centers and communities across the country in various ways.
Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic is one of only two in Alaska, alongside Norton Sound Health Corporation—to receive the 2026 Innovations in Community Health Award.
The recent Homer press release states that the Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic (KBFPC) is the only dedicated provider of low- and no-cost reproductive healthcare on the Kenai Peninsula and this award will support the next stage of KBFPC’s efforts to significantly expand access to life-saving cancer prevention for Alaskans who are uninsured, underinsured or facing financial barriers to care.
Expanding Lifesaving Care
The grant will support two critical infectious disease prevention initiatives designed to bridge the healthcare gap on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. These are defined as 1) HPV Cancer Prevention: This will include the launch of a vaccination program to protect adults against cervical cancer and five other types of cancer caused by the widely prevalent human papillomavirus (HPV). And 2) Mobile Outreach by strengthening KBFPC’s Pop-Up Clinic program, bringing sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing, treatment, and other reproductive healthcare directly to underserved residents across the Peninsula.
Jane Rohr, community liaison with KBFPC, described what the grant will support in more detail:
“With these funds we are able to launch an HPV vaccination program specifically for folks in 18 to 26 years of age who may have missed the first window of opportunity to get the vaccination, which is 9 to 12. Not everybody got those vaccinations for whatever reason and this is an opportunity for folks to have that conversation if they're a good fit to receive the vaccine. We're very excited about that. The grant will also support our ongoing STI pop-up clinics in the central Peninsula area. We've partnered with Kenai Public Health and the Ninilchik Community Clinic to offer STI services in the central Peninsula area, generally north of Ninilchik. This will give us funds to continue that effort and look at expanding with more partners and more offerings,” Rohr said.
According to Claudia Haines, CEO, national recognition underscores the vital role KBFPC contributes to Alaska’s public health infrastructure. The grant will allow the organization to “address critical gaps in infectious disease prevention and help provide a safety net for our vulnerable clients during a time when healthcare costs are on a rise.
Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic is a community supported safety-net clinic that has been dedicated to reproductive health and community education for more than 40 years. KBFPC provides comprehensive services via its Homer clinic, Central Peninsula Pop-Up Clinics, and telehealth services, all offered on a sliding fee scale.
For more information, visit www.kbfpc.org or call 907-235-3436.
Reporting from Homer, this is Emilie Springer.
