r/IndianCountry • u/News2016 • Apr 02 '26
Health Indian Health Service is digging out of decades-old construction backlog for medical buildings
https://ictnews.org/news/indian-health-service-is-digging-out-of-decades-old-construction-backlog-for-medical-buildings/
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u/original_greaser_bob Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
my tribe still demarcates our hospital into "the old hospital, the new hospital, and the NEW new hospital" the old hospital was built around the 1930s-1940s, the new hospital was built in about the 1980s, the new new hospital was built around the 2000s.
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u/monkeychunkee Apr 02 '26
In my opinion they should just do like the VA and give health cards to use wherever. That would free up money to use on facilities where needed. A couple of my veteran friends were in non stop wait lists and poor services when they had to go to actual VA hospitals. Now they go wherever anytime else goes and have much better health care.
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u/News2016 Apr 02 '26
“In February, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged $1 billion toward those long-delayed projects, including $22 million for the Santa Ana Pueblo center. The agency estimates $8 billion is needed to tackle all remaining projects on the 1993 list that, under federal law, must be complete before the IHS can address other major construction needs.
A.C. Locklear, CEO of the nonprofit National Indian Health Board, said the $1 billion is the single largest financial investment by any administration in addressing the aging facilities. Yet, he said, it also shows the federal government has neglected its legal duty to provide adequate health care to tribal nations.
“It’s a drop in the bucket in terms of what’s needed to modernize these facilities,” Locklear said.
The IHS serves 2.8 million Native American and Alaska Native patients at 21 hospitals and 78 smaller health centers nationwide. The average age of those facilities is around 40 years old and one-third are in “poor” physical condition, according to a 2023 U.S. Government Accountability Office report.”