Felix Clary
ICT + Tulsa World
Cherokee leaders have described Indian Health Services facilities as “chronically underfunded” and plan to take control of one such hospital.
A new Cherokee Nation resolution aims to give operational responsibility of the federally run Claremore Indian Hospital to tribal health leaders. The Cherokee Nation’s Health Committee will hear the resolution Sept. 16 to determine if the council will approve it. If approved, the tribe will gather a team of health leaders to meet with federal IHS officials to discuss the change that the tribe expects to complete by the end of 2025.
“The Claremore Service Unit workforce is superb and the entire team there works hard to deliver great care. However, Claremore operates in a federally run system that, quite simply, is not as resourced as it could be and is less effective than Cherokee Nation, which is why this change makes sense,” Cherokee Councilman Kevin Easley Jr. of Claremore said in a press release.
Cherokee Councilman Danny Callison of Pryor also expressed support for the shift, arguing Native health care should be in Native hands.
“Our track record for providing health care is well established, and we will bring that high standard to Claremore,” said Cherokee Nation Deputy Chief Bryan Warner.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. announced plans for the operation to move during his State of the Cherokee Nation address at the annual Cherokee Nation Holiday event Aug. 31 in Tahlequah, Okla.
The resolution represents a move toward tribal self-determination, as the Cherokee Nation has made significant efforts to operate its own health care and drug rehabilitation facilities over the past several years in the hopes of maintaining independence from federal programs.
The tribe currently operates the largest tribal health care system on tribal lands in America, scheduling around 2 million patient visits a year across nine health centers, as well as the W.W. Hastings Hospital in Tahlequah, an employee health clinic, and a youth drug and alcohol treatment center.
The W.W. Hastings hospital is being replaced with a new $450 million facility that will double patient capacity. An $85 million outpatient facility is in the works in Salina, Okla., that will replace their current outpatient clinic, tripling capacity. The tribe is also adding a $25 million adult drug treatment facility in Tahlequah, as well as two multimillion-dollar wellness centers in Tahlequah and Stilwell.
This story is co-published by the Tulsa World and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the Oklahoma area.
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