A patient and pharmacist at the Rosebud Indian Hospital on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. Photo from U.S. Public Health Service Pharmacists / Facebook

The hospital that serves the Rosebud Sioux Tribe is in danger of losing a critical source of funding but leaders feel they are being left in the dark.

The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Service threatened to terminate certification of the Rosebud Hospital on February 17. While the deadline has since been extended, the agency never told the tribe that it was coming back to the reservation for another site review, The Todd County Tribune reported.

The tribe only found out by reading a legal notice that CMS sent to a paper more than 170 miles away, health director Evelyn Espinoza said. The notice apparently wasn't published in the Tribune, which is based on the reservation.

“That’s not even our local newspaper,” Espinoza said at a council meeting on Wednesday, The Tribune reported. “That’s not an acceptable way of notifying a community and our tribe. That’s a paper that is far from us.”

The Indian Health Service has now been given until March 16 to correct deficiencies or lose Medicaid funding, according to a February 12 letter from CMS. A notice of that extension was published in the Tribune but not until Wednesday, five days after CMS sent the letter to the IHS.

Get the Story:
Tribal Health Director tells Rounds staffer Tribe is being failed by multiple Federal agencies (The Todd County Tribune 2/27)

Committee Notices:
Reexamining the Substandard Quality of Indian Health Care in the Great Plains (February 3, 2016)
A Listening Session on Putting Patients First: Addressing Indian Country’s Critical Concerns Regarding IHS (February 3, 2016)

Related Stories:
Another IHS hospital threatened with loss of Medicare funding (2/16)
Brandon Ecoffey: Treaties guaranteed health care for our people (02/11)
Six of 12 Indian Health Service area directors in 'acting' capacity (02/10)
President Obama seeks another increase for Indian Health Service budget (02/10)
Kristi Noem: Indian Health Service remains in a state of emergency (02/10)
Lakota Country Times: Indian health at center of Medicaid debate (02/09)
Tribal leaders question management changes at IHS in Great Plains (02/04)
IHS chief medical officer apologizes for comments about newborns (02/04)
Tribal leaders question management changes at IHS in Great Plains (2/4)
Indian Health Service makes changes ahead of big SCIA hearing (2/3)
Witness list for Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing into IHS (2/1)
Inspections of IHS facilities in Great Plains turn up big problems (1/28)
Senate committee reschedules IHS hearing and listening session (01/25)
Senate Indian Affairs Committee expands look at substandard IHS (1/22)
Senate Indian Affairs Committee to look at 'substandard' care at IHS in Great Plains (01/12)
Mary Annette Pember: Native women affected by cutbacks at IHS (12/29)
Lakota Country Times: IHS restricts care at Rosebud hospital (12/24)
Nebraska tribes recognized for efforts to hold IHS accountable (09/24)
Tribes in Nebraska demand resignations of senior IHS officials (08/12)
Winnebago Tribe upset with IHS over loss of funds at hospital (8/6)
Winnebago Tribe looking to address deficiencies at IHS hospital (08/05)
Winnebago Tribe hopes to prevent Medicare cutoff at hospital (5/28)