
Health care is paid for with treaty land… and then some
Monday, May 24, 2021
Native Sun News Today Columnist
I once heard a local veteran state that he is “Indian” first and a veteran second. His comment reflects my sentiment “to the T.”
I was once told by a local Indian Health Service (IHS) employee to use the Veteran’s Administration medical facility located in Hot Springs. So, I stopped using the local facility in Pine Ridge a long time ago and managed to stay away for many years.
My experience with the local IHS facility was disappointing and disheartening. For example, each time I went to the hospital for a cough, I was prescribed aspirin and sent home. Since the cough persisted, I usually go to see a doctor in a neighboring town and find a serious condition like pneumonia. I’ve heard many express their frustration as a family member was misdiagnosed which exacerbated their condition.
As early as the 60s and 70s, I heard local “Indian” residents lament the less than quality treatment they had to endure at the IHS facility. In recent times, most patients in need of specialty care, like surgery and severe trauma injuries, are being referred out and airlifted to the new Monument Hospital in Rapid City, or to medical facilities in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and sometimes to Scott’s Bluff, Nebraska.

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Ivan F. Star Comes Out can be reached at P.O. Box 147, Oglala, South Dakota, 57764; via phone at 605-867-2448 or via email at matonasula2@gmail.com.
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