Overview:
A tribal nation is opening one of the largest Native American owned and operated hospitals in the country.
Last week, Chickasaw Nation broke ground on what will be one of the largest Native American hospitals in the country.
When complete, the 160-acre Chickasaw Nation Health Newcastle Medical Center campus, located at the intersection of Southwest 16th Street and U.S. Highway 62, will contain 12 buildings, including a hospital, outpatient clinic, and more than 23 medical specialties.
“Today is the next step in our journey to provide quality, accessible healthcare,” Chickasaw Nation Governor Chris Anoatubby said at the July 31 groundbreaking ceremony. “This will be more than just a hospital; this campus will propel healthcare forward.”
In Oklahoma, Native adults have some of the highest rates of some chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cancers, and heart disease. Those disparities are in step with the rest of Indian Country, and with the Indian Health Service (IHS) struggling under a budget shortfall of tens of billions of dollars, tribes like Chickasaw Nation are taking healthcare into their own hands.
“Once again, the mission extends to the community and other First Americans we will serve right here in Newcastle. When Chickasaws first arrived in this territory, they built schools, churches and hospitals so the generations coming after them would persevere and have even more,” Anoatubby said. “Today, we do the same. We build for families and communities today and for a bright future for the generations that will follow.”
According to a press release from the Chickasaw Nation, the first construction phase consists of about 700,000 square feet of facilities, including 50 inpatient beds, an emergency department, surgical suites, labor and delivery, family medicine, pediatrics, specialty clinics, behavioral health, dental clinics, a full pharmacy, and the beginnings of a research program.
Upon completion, the facility will grow to include a nearly 2.5 million-square-foot medical campus with 140 inpatient beds and will employ more than 5,500 staff. It is expected to serve more than 100,000 First Americans in the region.
The campus will also include a research center wholly owned and operated by the tribe.
This project is a collaboration between the Chickasaw Nation and the Indian Health Service (IHS) Joint Venture Program. Through the program, the Chickasaw Nation finances the design and construction of the facility, and IHS commits to fund a portion of staffing and operational costs. This partnership brings healthcare resources and jobs into Oklahoma as well as building much-needed infrastructure.
U.S. Congressman Tom Cole, a Chickasaw citizen, said the Newcastle facility is the result of the Chickasaw Nation and the federal government working together to empower and improve the lives of First Americans.
“This (medical campus) is an example of that,” Cole said in a press release. “Chickasaw vision, Chickasaw resources, but federal vision and federal resources. A great partnership. And it will not just benefit Native people, and certainly the Chickasaw people; it will benefit this entire area and every citizen in it.”
Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said in a press release that the Chickasaw Nation Health Newcastle Medical Center will deliver high-quality healthcare to rural America.
“When you build a 140-bed hospital, there are all kinds of opportunities to transform what people expect in this part of the country,” Oz said.
