Health center to serve Cherokees

Cherokee Nation citizens, including thousands who live in Northwest Arkansas, can soon get medical care at a new $200 million health center.

The outpatient center will have 240 exam rooms in a four-story, 469,000-squarefoot building, said Chuck Hoskin Jr., Cherokee Nation chief.

The center is being built on North Ross Street in Tahlequah, Okla., and will join the Cherokee-owned W.W. Hastings Hospital and a planned medical school on the site.

About 7,800 Cherokee Nation citizens live in Washington, Benton, Madison and Carroll counties, including 3,300 people in Washington County and about 4,260 in Benton County, Hoskin said. The tribe has more than 370,000 members, said Julie Hubbard, spokeswoman.

Cherokee Nation is the sovereign government of the Cherokee people. It’s the largest of three federally recognized Cherokee tribes. The tribe is based in

Tahlequah and includes 14 counties in Northeast Oklahoma, according to its website.

Cherokee Nation citizens in Arkansas often drive to Oklahoma for health care, Hoskin said.

Macey Henley of Fayetteville is a member. Henley was diagnosed at one of Cherokee Nation’s clinics with polycystic ovarian syndrome, a hormonal disorder. She said she had a good experience with the staff and was able to get proper treatment for free.

Cherokee Nation health facilities accept insurance, but treat uninsured patients for free.

Henley is the cultural outreach coordinator at the Museum of Native American History in Bentonville. She has met several people through the museum who receive health services through Cherokee Nation, she said. Henley is willing to make the roughly 60-mile drive to the new health center for free health care, she said.

Cherokee Nation has spent about $200 million on construction and equipment for the health center, which is set to open Oct. 21.

The federal government will cover the center’s estimated $100 million annual operating costs, such as staff salaries and supplies, Hoskin said. The U.S. will pay for the costs as part of an agreement between the tribe and Indian Health Service, the federal health program for American Indians and Alaska Natives.

The health center will offer primary care as well as specialty services such as dentistry, optometry, magnetic resonance imaging and some surgeries, Hoskin said.

The health center will open its optometry, audiology, physical rehabilitation, behavioral health, radiology, lab and pharmacy services Oct. 7. The rest, including primary care and dentistry, will be available for patients Oct. 21, Hubbard said.

The Cherokee Nation Health Services operates eight centers in Oklahoma in addition to Hastings Hospital, Hubbard said. Health Services employs 2,600 people, she said.

The new facility will free up space at Hastings for inpatient and emergency services and create about 850 jobs, including about 100 doctor positions, Hoskin said.

Although Cherokee Nation has a preference for Cherokee tribe members in its hiring, the health center will also have non-Cherokee employees.

“We want to cast a broad net,” Hoskin said.

The facility will be next to a medical school Cherokee Nation paid about $40 million to build. The tribal nation partnered with Oklahoma State University and its College of Osteopathic Medicine to create a pipeline of doctors who may work at the new center, Hoskin said.

The Tahlequah campus is under construction and plans to have its first class of up to 50 medical students in fall 2020, said William Pettit, dean of the College of Medicine Cherokee Nation campus and associate dean for rural health at Oklahoma State University.

The goal is for the students to practice in rural, underserved areas and/or for tribal health services, Pettit said.

The Northwest Arkansas Council, a nonprofit organization of executives from the region’s largest companies, schools and health care systems, released a report in January estimating Northwest Arkansas is missing out on $950 million a year in the health care spending.

The report notes an estimated 300 students are expected to graduate from medical schools, including the one in Tahlequah, within 70 miles of Springdale by 2022. The report found the region lacks in specialty care largely because of a lack of residency slots for recent medical school graduates.

The new Cherokee health center will offer residency programs for recent medical school graduates.

“What the council’s focused on is how do we pull together as a region to have these specialties?” said Nelson Peacock, president and chief executive officer at the council.

Cherokee Nation has spent about $200 million on construction and equipment for the health center, which is set to open Oct. 21.