Conrad Seeks Quality Health Care for North Dakota Tribes

Press Release

In a meeting today on Capitol Hill, Senator Kent Conrad pressed Dr. Yvette Roubideaux, director of the Indian Health Service (IHS), on her agency's progress in fixing some serious problems facing North Dakota's tribal health facilities.

In late December, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee released a report detailing its investigation into the Aberdeen Area of IHS. The Aberdeen Area includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa, and serves more than 122,000 Native Americans -- including 34,000 in North Dakota. The investigation revealed serious troubles within the IHS-Aberdeen system. Senator Conrad questioned Dr. Roubideaux about several of the issues mentioned in the Senate Indian Affairs Committee's report.

"The findings in the report by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee were shocking and unacceptable. Native Americans in North Dakota who seek care from the Indian Health Service deserve better," Senator Conrad said. "I put Dr. Roubideaux on notice and told her more must be done to ensure IHS patients in North Dakota receive the quality care they need and deserve."

The Senate report found that several IHS facilities are at risk of losing their federal accreditation, which would disqualify them from billing Medicaid and/or Medicare and create greater funding deficiencies. There are also hospitals that continue to have significant backlogs in posting, billing, and collecting insurance claims. The investigation also revealed frequent management turnover at Quentin Burdick Hospital at Turtle Mountain, licensure issues, and inadequate protection of controlled drugs in IHS pharmacies.

Senator Conrad, who is a senior member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, pressed Dr. Roubideaux to take immediate action to address these troubling issues.

Dr. Roubideaux is overseeing reviews of all 12 IHS regional offices and met with tribal leaders from North Dakota and surrounding states last week. The Aberdeen review is scheduled for September-October. The reviews will incorporate the findings of the Indian Affairs Committee's investigation.

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