Sealaska board member and former state Senator Albert Kookesh was hospitalized yesterday after suffering a heart attack while waiting to board a flight in Juneau.

Kookesh was hospitalized in critical condition yesterday.

Kookesh went through surgery to remove a blockage that was the origin of the attack at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage. It is reported that he is resting after the successful surgery.

Albert Kookesh was a Democratic member of the Alaska Senate from 2005 until 2013. Prior to that, Kookesh served as a member of Alaska’s House of Representatives from 1997 through 2005. Kookesh is a current boardmember on the Sealaska board.