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Indian Health Service is digging out of decades-old construction backlog for medical buildings
The Indian Health Service serves 2.8 million Native American and Alaska Native patients and faces a $8 billion infrastructure need, with $1 billion pledged in 2023.
- In February, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged $1 billion toward long-delayed Indian Health Service projects, including $22 million for a new medical center at Santa Ana Pueblo near Albuquerque.
- Federal law mandates the IHS complete a 1993 priority list of more than 60 aging facilities before addressing new construction, a requirement Senior HHS adviser Mark Cruz called "unacceptable."
- Navajo Nation citizen Theresa Nelson, 62, faces months-long waits for preventative care, while the Gallup Indian Medical Center relies on "Band-Aid" fixes that tribal lawmaker Vince James warns will eventually render unsafe.
- A.C. Locklear, CEO of the National Indian Health Board, described the $1 billion pledge as a "drop in the bucket," as the agency estimates $8 billion is required to modernize remaining facilities.
- Without special congressional appropriations, Cruz warned it could take another 40 years to complete the priority list, though the Santa Ana Pueblo center is scheduled to break ground in 2027.
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Indian Health Service is digging out of decades-old construction backlog for medical buildings
The U.S. agency that provides healthcare to Native Americans has a facilities problem. Buildings in its inventory are decades-old, dilapidated and don't have enough space to care for a growing population.
·United States
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Total News Sources41
Leaning Left13Leaning Right4Center20Last UpdatedBias Distribution54% Center
Bias Distribution
- 54% of the sources are Center
54% Center
L 35%
C 54%
11%
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