Choctaw Health Center

Year

After transferring all health care decisions from Indian Health Services to tribal control over a ten-year period, the Band significantly improved its health care delivery system. Its state-of-the-art Health Center provides health and dental care, behavioral health care and community health promotion, education and prevention programs, and the first-ever on-reservation disability clinic. In addition, the Tribe has implemented an efficient billing and records system that has reduced the "red-tape" typically associated with third party billing. By taking a more active role in its reservation health care, the tribally controlled Choctaw Health Center is improving community health and meeting the specific health care needs of its citizens. In 1997, the Choctaw Band's Disability Clinic received the Vice President's prestigious Hammer Award for the Clinic's effective disability determination process.

Resource Type
Citation

"Choctaw Health Center". Honoring Nations: 1999 Honoree. The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Cambridge, Massachusetts. 2000. Report. 

Permissions

This Honoring Nations report is featured on the Indigenous Governance Database with the permission of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development. 

Related Resources

Thumbnail or cover image
Choctaw Community Injury Prevention Program

Responding to alarming rates of preventable accidents on its reservation, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw created a comprehensive community injury prevention program in 2001. Through seat belt and child safety seat campaigns, strict enforcement of motor vehicle laws, and community-wide education…

Thumbnail

Former Chief Justice of the Mississippi Choctaw Supreme Court Rae Nell Vaughn provides a detailed overview of the growth and evolution of the Mississippi Choctaw's governance system and specifically its justice system, stressing the importance of Native nations providing a fair, effective,…