Heitkamp, Wakefield Bring Together Tribal Leaders to Tackle IHS Shortcomings

Press Release

U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today hosted a meeting to bring together tribal leaders from across North Dakota with a top U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) official, so tribes can share their concerns about ongoing challenges at Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities in the region.

Acting Deputy Secretary of HHS Mary Wakefield -- a Devils Lake native -- provided an update on the agency's efforts to improve IHS care. Heitkamp has long worked with tribes and federal partners like Wakefield to improve and maintain IHS care in North Dakota and beyond. In April, Heitkamp met with IHS Acting Director Mary Smith to press her to maintain quality health care for North Dakota's tribal communities as the agency invests attention and resources to fix severe shortcomings at health facilities in South Dakota.

"Health outcomes won't improve in Native communities unless federal officials and tribal leadership work together, which is why meetings like the one I hosted today are vital," said Heitkamp. "Tribal leaders on the ground can see firsthand where IHS can better serve these communities, and today they had the opportunity to share their thoughts with Dr. Wakefield. That insight can help HHS identify opportunities to improve as I continue my push to maintain and improve health care -- particularly at IHS facilities -- for Native communities in North Dakota. This meeting also enabled Dr. Wakefield to talk about the steps HHS is taking to improve tribal health care, and the additional resources it is investing."

"IHS, and all of HHS, are committed to providing consistent, quality health care to Native families in North Dakota and across the country," Wakefield added. "We're putting our facilities under a microscope and encouraging people to come forward to raise concerns so we can work to resolve them, rather than sweeping them under the rug. As a North Dakotan and nurse who has spent much of my career serving the people of North Dakota, this issue is personal. I appreciate the invitation from Senator Heitkamp to engage with our tribal leaders today and to share with them the work we have underway to deploy innovative strategies and tools like telemedicine that will improve access to quality health care services in North Dakota."

During the meeting, Wakefield discussed in detail how IHS is addressing immediate needs and longer term efforts. She noted that HHS has deployed more than 20 experts from the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and human resources staff to strengthen IHS's recruiting strategies, with a focus on recruiting local candidates. Salary packages are being improved and relocation reimbursement is being provided. She said additional long term staffing pipeline strategies include working with local academic institutions (including tribal colleges and health professions training programs at universities) to provide training opportunities in IHS facilities. Most recently IHS announced it plans to award a contract to manage the emergency rooms and provide clinicians at Pine Ridge, Rosebud, and other IHS facilities across the Great Plains.

IHS provides health services to 122,000 tribal members across the Great Plains area, including in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska. Last month, Heitkamp visited Fort Yates Hospital, an IHS facility on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, in her continued push to guarantee that Native communities across the Great Plains have access to quality health care.

Pine Ridge, Rosebud, and other IHS facilities across the Great Plains have experienced severe service disruptions in recent years, which prompted Heitkamp to request a February U.S. Senate oversight hearing to investigate the problems. Heitkamp urged the agency to begin tackling the substandard quality of Indian health care and other severe problems at IHS facilities in the Great Plains, particularly in South Dakota.

The persistent disruptions that prompted the hearing included emergency room closures, inadequate staffing, unsafe and unsterile conditions, and regulatory violations -- all of which threaten the health of communities who rely on the facilities. Heitkamp and a bipartisan group of senators requested the oversight hearing in January.

To continue improving IHS care, the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will follow up on February's oversight hearing with a field hearing in Rapid City, S.D. later this month.

As a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Heitkamp has fought to improve the quality of health care across Indian Country. The first bill Heitkamp introduced as a U.S. senator was her bill to create a commission on steps the federal government should take to improve the lives of Native children, including improving health care in Native communities.

Heitkamp has also fought to provide quality health care for Native veterans. In October 2015, Heitkamp hosted her second Native American Veterans Summit on the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indian Reservation to connect Native veterans from across the state with top officials, guaranteeing veterans access to health care and other support they deserve. Native Americans serve in the military at four times the rate of any other group. Heitkamp held her first Native American Veterans Summit at United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck in 2014, bringing together more than 140 Native veterans with federal officials and advocates who provided resources and guidance.

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