Alaska · home health aide (HHA)
How to become a home health aide in Alaska: the routes that qualify you, who regulates home health agencies in Alaska, pay, free training options, and all 29 state-approved CNA programs, since a CNA certification also qualifies you as a home health aide.
Your route
Home health agencies in Alaska are licensed by the Alaska Department of Health, Health Care Facility Licensing and Certification. Medicare and Medicaid agencies must use aides who completed one of the federally approved routes. These are the two most common.
Fastest route
CNA
Agency route
75 hrs
Why we list CNA programs: under federal rules, a state-approved CNA program plus good standing on the Alaska nurse aide registry qualifies you as a home health aide. It’s the route that opens the most doors. See our Alaska CNA guide.
The steps
The general path for most new aides.
Keep your hours up. Federal rules require at least 12 hours of in-service training a year, and if you go 24 months in a row without paid aide work, you must retrain.
Home health aide vs. CNA
The two jobs overlap, but the settings and pay differ.
| Home health aide | CNA | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you work | Clients’ homes, through home health and hospice agencies | Nursing homes and hospitals |
| Training | 75 hours federal minimum, or a CNA certification | State-approved CNA program |
| Official record | Your agency’s training and competency records | The Alaska nurse aide registry |
| Median pay (AK) | $19.11 an hour* | $22.29 an hour |
*Federal pay data groups home health aides with personal care aides. About 6,530 of them work in Alaska.
Help paying
Ways to cover the cost of training.
Many home health agencies train aides they hire, and nursing homes that hire you can’t charge you for CNA training under federal rules.
Directory
All 29 programs from our Alaska CNA guide. Finishing one, passing the exam, and staying in good standing on the state registry also qualifies you as a home health aide for Medicare and Medicaid agencies.
| Program | City | County | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska CNA | Anchorage | Anchorage | (907) 267-9113 |
| Alaska Native Medical Center | Anchorage | Anchorage | (907) 729-1104 |
| Alaska Technical Center | Kotzebue | Northwest Arctic | (907) 442-1507 |
| Alaska Veterans & Pioneers Home | Palmer | Matanuska-Susitna | (907) 745-4241 |
| Bartlett Hospital | Juneau | Juneau | Call the program |
| Bethel CNA, Yuut Elitnaurviat | Bethel | Bethel | (907) 543-0996 |
| Central Peninsula Hospital | Soldotna | Kenai Peninsula | Call the program |
| Denali Center | Fairbanks | Fairbanks North Star | Call the program |
| Don Young Alaska Job Corps | Palmer | Matanuska-Susitna | (907) 861-8808 |
| Heritage Place | Soldotna | Kenai Peninsula | (907) 252-7337 |
| Kenai Peninsula College | Soldotna | Kenai Peninsula | (907) 262-0379 |
| Kenai Peninsula College, Kachemak Bay Campus | Homer | Kenai Peninsula | (907) 253-7743 |
| Mat-Su CNA | Palmer | Matanuska-Susitna | (907) 777-1336 |
| Norton Sound Health Corporation | Nome | Nome | (907) 443-4559 |
| Petersburg Medical Center | Petersburg | Petersburg | (907) 772-4291 |
| Polaris | Anchorage | Anchorage | (907) 621-8969 |
| Prince William Sound College | Cordova | Chugach | (907) 424-7598 |
| Providence Alaska Medical Center | Anchorage | Anchorage | Call the program |
| Providence Seward Mountain Haven | Seward | Kenai Peninsula | Call the program |
| Providence Valdez, Prince William Sound College | Valdez | Chugach | (907) 834-1844 |
| SEARHC Sitka | Sitka | Sitka | (907) 874-7000 |
| SEARHC Wrangell | Wrangell | Wrangell | (907) 874-7000 |
| South Peninsula Hospital | Homer | Kenai Peninsula | (907) 235-0230 |
| University of Alaska Anchorage, School of Allied Health | Anchorage | Anchorage | (907) 786-4310 |
| University of Alaska Fairbanks, Community & Technical College | Fairbanks | Fairbanks North Star | (907) 455-2876 |
| University of Alaska Fairbanks, Northwest Campus | Nome | Nome | (907) 455-2876 |
| University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau | Juneau | Juneau | (907) 796-6125 |
| University of Alaska Southeast, Ketchikan | Ketchikan | Ketchikan Gateway | (907) 228-4537 |
| University of Alaska Southeast, Sitka | Sitka | Sitka | (907) 747-9476 |
Tip: ask each program whether it also offers a home health aide add-on. For details, costs, and exam steps, see our Alaska CNA guide.
FAQ
Short answers to what people ask most.
Home health aides in Alaska work for home health agencies licensed by the Alaska Department of Health, Health Care Facility Licensing and Certification. Medicare and Medicaid agencies must hire aides who meet the federal training and competency rules. Ask the agency you're applying to which credential it requires.
The two most common routes are completing a 75-hour home health aide training and competency evaluation, or becoming a CNA. Federal rules count a CNA in good standing on the Alaska nurse aide registry as a qualified home health aide.
The median pay for home health and personal care aides in Alaska is $19.11 an hour, about $39,740 a year, based on the May 2025 federal wage survey. Alaska CNAs earn a median $22.29 an hour.
Yes, for Medicare and Medicaid home health agencies, if the CNA completed a state-approved program and is listed in good standing on the state nurse aide registry.
Yes. Federal rules require at least 12 hours of in-service training every 12 months for aides at Medicare and Medicaid agencies.