Unalaska, AK – Iliuliuk Family and Health Services released a statement today announcing that Executive Director Sonia Handforth-Kome will be leaving the clinic in the fall. According to the release, she "will be spending more time with her family and will be remaining in the community." In an e-mail to KUCB, Handforth-Kome also says that she plans to continue her work with community health centers across the state after taking a sabbatical.

Handforth-Kome will continue on as executive director through the expiration of her contract on September 30. During that time, the IFHS Board of Director will conduct a national search for her replacement. The board hopes to have the executive director position filled by September 30.

Dick Peck is the president of the IFHS board, and he says that the board accepted Handforth-Kome's resignation last night and will initiate the search promptly. A meeting on the process will be held at 6:15pm on Friday at the Unalaska Public Library.

The announcement comes a week after members of the public registered concerns about clinic management and hiring policy as they relate to IFHS' behavioral health services. Handforth-Kome says that the decision to leave IFHS comes after "two years of rumination," and Peck says that this action is not related to the issues presented at last week's board meeting.