The new W.W. Hastings Hospital did not rise from the ground overnight. It grew from decades of planning, staff dedication, and a belief from everyone involved that Cherokee families deserve state-of-the-art care in the heart of the Cherokee Nation Reservation. That belief is now standing six stories tall in Tahlequah.

This $470 million facility is the largest investment in Cherokee healthcare in our history. With 127 patient beds, expanded emergency and surgical services, advanced diagnostic technology, and a neonatal intensive care unit, it gives our physicians, nurses, and caregivers the tools they need to provide world-class care. It also positions Cherokee Nation Health Services to meet the needs of a growing population for generations to come.

But this moment is about more than bricks and mortar. It is a declaration that Cherokee families deserve exceptional healthcare close to home, and that our tribal government will continue investing in their health and wellness.

Our core values teach us that caring for one another is one of our greatest responsibilities. That value guided every healthcare investment we have made over the past 20 years. We transformed our healthcare system into the largest tribally operated health system in the United States. We expanded clinics throughout our reservation, strengthened behavioral health services, launched physician residency programs, invested in prevention, and built partnerships designed to train the next generation of Cherokee healthcare professionals.

Cherokee Nation Health Services currently supports about 11,500 jobs and generates more than $2 billion in annual economic activity in northeast Oklahoma.

While we celebrate this new hospital, we are also giving a renewed purpose to the former W.W. Hastings facility on the same health campus. It will soon be repurposed into the Nursing and Allied Health Education Center, which will be anchored by a unique collaboration with the University of Oklahoma College of Nursing. Strategically, it will help us educate and train the next generation of health professionals and reinforce our workforce.

None of this happened by accident. It happened because we decided years ago to reinvest every available dollar back into our people — into the programs and services that improve lives and families.

A critical part of that strategy has been third-party revenue — Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance reimbursements — that enables the Cherokee Nation to stretch every federal dollar we receive. These funds go directly back into patient care through improved facilities and new services. It also goes to the doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other staff who provide an excellent healthcare experience every day for our Cherokee people. That revenue enabled nearly every major expansion of Cherokee Nation Health Services over the past several years, including the new-and-improved W.W. Hastings Hospital.

Cherokee Nation will always fulfill its responsibility to our citizens. That is not in question. But we will also use our voice to advocate for policies that strengthen the healthcare systems serving Indian Country, and that includes preserving Medicaid and sustainable third-party revenue.

The new W.W. Hastings Hospital is a testament to what Cherokee self-governance makes possible. It reflects who we are: a people who care for one another, invest in the future, and build for generations to come. As we welcome our first patients, we celebrate not just a remarkable new hospital, but a healthcare system built to serve our people for generations to come.

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