2009: Reservation clinics, hospitals overcrowded and in need of repair

A budget shortfall has left more than 700 Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities scattered through 36 states, mostly in rural and isolated areas, in need of maintenance. The average IHS facility is more than 30 years old and severely overcrowded, in part because of the need to add more staff to serve growing American Indian populations. Whenever new facilities are built, they are typically three times larger than the ones they replace.

For most American Indians/Alaska Natives, the Indian Health Service is their primary source of health care.

Theme

Federal-Tribal Relations

Region

Arctic, California, Great Basin, Great Plains, Northeast, Northwest Coast, Plateau, Southeast, Southwest, Subarctic