The Crow/Northern Cheyenne Hospital in Crow Agency, Montana. Photo from IHS

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana) is wondering why the Indian Health Service hasn't hired permanent regional directors.

In a letter to new Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell, Tester notes than four of the 12 regional offices lack permanent directors. The list includes the Montana-Wyoming region, whose leader resigned in frustration over the the lack of reforms at the agency.

"The ability of these regions to deliver quality health care to this population is impacted by the kind of leadership they have, and it would appear to me that the agency is satisfied with temporary leadership," Tester wrote in the July 24 letter. "I can assure you that I am not satisfied."

The director of the Billings Area just left in May. Two other regions -- Tucson and Bemidji -- have been without directors since 2011, The Billings Gazette reported.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana), the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee , has asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the Billings office.

Get the Story:
IHS director hiring too slow, Tester says (The Billings Gazette 7/31)

Relevant Documents:
Crow Tribe Press Release | Crow Legislature Resolution

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