The Sioux San Hospital is an Indian Health Service facility in Rapid City, South Dakota. Photo by Colorado National Guard Medical Detachment / Flickr
The Indian Health Service and the Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Health Board are hosting a combined meeting this week. The 13th annual Direct Service Tribes National Meeting and the 6th annual Great Plains Health Summit take place in Rapid City, South Dakota, on Wednesday and Thursday. The joint event brings federal officials and tribal leaders together to address concerns affecting Direct Service Tribes. Direct Service Tribes are the tribes that rely on the IHS to provide health care to their communities. They are located in all regions of Indian Country. Some Direct Service Tribes are interested in taking over certain IHS functions under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. To assist with those efforts, the agency recently awarded more than $1.5 million in grants to tribes and tribal organizations. “IHS and tribes share the common goals of tribal self-determination and providing quality health care to American Indian and Alaska Native patients. The tribal management grants, along with IHS technical assistance, are critical resources to achieving these shared goals,” Mary L. Smith, the principal deputy director of the IHS, said in a press release. According to the IHS, more than two-thirds of the agency's funding is administered by tribes through the self-determination law.
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