The Blackfeet Community Hospital in Browning, Montana, is part of the Indian Health Service system. Photo by Royalbroil / Wikimedia Commons
With the state of Montana working to improve the health status of tribal members, The Havre Daily News calls on President Barack Obama to improve the Indian Health Service:
Indian Health Services is notorious for being unable to provide good care for its clients. The program is underfunded, and local clinics often run out of money before the end of the fiscal year. It is hard to attract doctors, nurses and other health care professionals to reservations, which are often in rural, remote locations. Efforts to attract doctors, nurses and other health professionals to the reservations ought to be expanded. As part of his legacy-building efforts, we hope President Barack Obama launches an all-out effort to cure this intolerable disparity in the life expectancies of Natives. And we hope the entire health care community in Montana jumps on the bandwagon.Get the Story:
Our View: Montana's Native health care crisis is a scandal (The Havre Daily News 2/23) Also Today:
Montana Seeking Director Of American Indian Health (Montana Public Radio 2/1)
Montana seeks director of American Indian health to help close 20-year life expectancy gap (The Billings Gazette 2/1)
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