{"id":11959,"date":"2021-05-25T10:58:48","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T14:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=11959"},"modified":"2021-05-25T11:06:15","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T15:06:15","slug":"bipartisan-bill-brings-long-overdue-boost-to-urban-indian-health-providers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/05\/25\/bipartisan-bill-brings-long-overdue-boost-to-urban-indian-health-providers\/","title":{"rendered":"Bipartisan bill brings long-overdue boost to urban Indian health providers"},"content":{"rendered":"\"okcic\"
The Oklahoma City Indian Clinic hosted a series of COVID-19 community vaccine events in Oklahoma in April 2021. Photo courtesy OKCIC<\/figcaption>\r\n
Bipartisan bill brings long-overdue boost to urban Indian health providers<\/div>\r\n
Tuesday, May 25, 2021<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C. — As the first Americans continue to feel the disproportionate impacts of the coronavirus pandemic<\/a>, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is seeking to bring more resources to urban Indian communities.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nAlthough the majority of American Indians and Alaska Natives live in urban areas, barely 1 percent of the Indian Health Service<\/a> budget has gone to urban Indian health providers Funding has finally started to increase and only as a result of COVID-19 relief legislation<\/a> passed by Congress.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nLawmakers from both parties are now hoping to expand on those efforts. A bill being introduced on Tuesday offers a simple solution that will help improve the facilities and clinics that serve urban Indians<\/a> across the nation.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cUrban Indian Organizations are a lifeline to Native Americans living in urban areas across California,\u201d Sen. Alex Padilla<\/a> (D-California), a new member of the U.S. Senate<\/a>, said in introducing the Urban Indian Health Providers Facilities Improvement Act. [PDF<\/a>]\r\n

<\/p>\r\n \u201cYet, UIOs are prohibited from using Indian Health Service funding for facilities, maintenance, equipment, and other necessary construction upgrades,\u201d added Padilla, whose home state of California is home to the largest population of American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

UrbanIndianHealthProvidersFacilitiesImprovementAct<\/a><\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe Urban Indian Health Providers Facilities Improvement Act is just two pages long. Yet it finally resolves the situation by allowing urban Indian providers to utilize IHS funds to improve, update or renovate their facilities. \r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cDuring the pandemic, many UIOs couldn\u2019t get approval for ventilation upgrades, heaters, generators, and weatherization equipment,\u201d observed Padilla. \u201cRemoving this unjust burden on UIOs is a commonsense fix, and would allow them to improve the quality of the culturally competent care that they provide.\u201d\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe National Council of Urban Indian Health<\/a> (NCUIH) has been among the many voices pushing for the facilities fix. According to the organization, UIOs will need at least $80 million to start improving the spaces that serve their patients and clients.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n \u201cFacility-related use of funds remains the most requested priority for UIOs,\u201d Francys Crevier, a citizen of the Algonquin First Nation who serves as NCUIH’s chief executive officer, said in testimony to Congress<\/a> in March, a year into the COVID-19 pandemic.\r\n

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