The Rosebud Hospital is located on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. Photo by Crystal R. Leighton via Facebook
The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is heading to South Dakota next week to address issues at the Indian Health Service. Committee staff will discuss S.2953, the Indian Health Service Accountability Act, at a town hall on Thursday, June 16. The bill is the first comprehensive effort to address deficiencies in the troubled Great Plains Area and in other parts of Indian Country. The briefing takes place at 2pm in the 3rd Floor Meeting Room East & West at the Rapid City Administration Building, 300 Sixth Street. The following day, the committee will hear from a panel of federal and tribal witnesses about the bill and other IHS issues. Mary Wakefield, the acting deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, is scheduled to testify. The hearing takes place at 10:30am at the Central High School Auditorium, 433 Mt. Rushmore Road in Rapid City. The full witness list follows:
Mary Wakefield, PhD., R.N.,The hearing will not be webcast live but video will be available later on the committee's website. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Notices:
Acting Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. The Honorable William Bear Shield,
Chairman, Rosebud Sioux Tribal Health Board, Rosebud, SD Ms. Wehnona Stabler,
Tribal Health Director, Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, Walthill, NE Ms. Ardell Blueshield,
Tribal Health Director, Spirit Lake Tribal Health, Fort Totten, ND Ms. Stacy Bohlen,
Executive Director, National Indian Health Board, Washington, D.C.
Town Hall Meeting "Discussing S. 2953: Improving the Indian Health Service." (June 16, 2016)
Oversight/Legislative FIELD Hearing on "Improving Accountability and Quality of Care at the Indian Health Service though S. 2953." (June 17, 2016) Federal Register Notice:
Notice of Tribal Consultation and Urban Confer Sessions on the State of the Great Plains Area Indian Health Service (June 3, 2016) Government Accountability Office Report:
INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE: Actions Needed to Improve Oversight of Patient Wait Times (April 29, 2016) Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Report:
In Critical Condition: The urgent need to reform the Indian Health Service’s Aberdeen Area (December 2010)
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