The Cherokee Nation has signed an agreement for federal funding to construct a multimillion-dollar tribal health-care center, slated to be the largest such facility ever built, the nation announced Wednesday.
Tribal leaders signed a deal with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Indian Health Service to receive at least $80 million per year for at least 20 years, according to a Wednesday news release from the Cherokee Nation. Funding will last at least 20 years.
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The center will be a 450,000-square-foot addition to the existing 190,000-square-foot W.W. Hastings Hospital in Tahlequah. The Cherokee Nation, with funds secured from the federal government, will contribute more than $150 million to construction costs, according to the release.
This is the largest joint venture funding project ever between a tribe and the Indian Health Service, according to the press release.
Tribal officials, including Principal Chief Bill John Baker and Council Speaker Joe Byrd, signed the agreement Wednesday at Indian Health Service headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, the release states.
The new health-care center will provide both construction and health-care jobs to the area, the Cherokee Nation noted. It will also provide previously unavailable specialty services, such as surgery and endocrinology, at the hospital, according to the release.
Other services at the center include ambulatory care, podiatry, a WIC program, audiology, dental and eye care, and rehabilitation services.
Tribal leaders approved the project in January 2015. In the 13 months since then, officials decided on specifications for the center, Cherokee Nation spokeswoman Julie Hubbard said.
A groundbreaking for the new center is scheduled for April, with an estimated completion date set for 2019, Hubbard said.
