Spotlight: Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribal Health Center
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The renovated Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribal Health Center in South Dakota held its October grand opening, with a prayer, blessing, and song. The health center offers medical, dental, behavioral, vision, and preventative services. It also has a drive-thru pharmacy.
The old facility was outdated and had limited space, said Clinic Administrator Leah Fyten. It was difficult to ensure patient confidentiality. Tribal leadership worked with Indian Health Service (IHS) over many years to manage its own health system and to update the health center. Flandreau Santee Sioux contributed $13 million to fund the new health center.
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"We now have a patient benefits coordinator and nurse case manager who work with all community members to make sure they get health coverage. I am most excited to hire additional providers and open our new community health education department that focuses on preventative services and community outreach."
– Leah Fyten, Clinic Administrator, Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribal Health Center
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"This has been a joint venture with IHS over 10 years in the making,” said Fyten. “We already doubled the size of our dental clinic, are increasing staff, and providing services that address American Indian health disparities."
"I’m proud to help open a health center that has a beautiful and homey atmosphere," she added. "The community trusts us and people love to come in."
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December 2017: Health is a gift
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Share this ad in your newsletter or on your website. Other sizes are available on CMS’s Outreach and Education Resources page.
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Flyers and brochures
Enroll in Medicaid for yourself, for your family, for your community (PDF, 548 KB, 1 p) is a customizable flyer that explains CHIP and Medicaid eligibility, covered health services, and benefits that individuals and tribes receive from health care coverage.
Essential Health Benefits for American Indians and Alaska Natives (PDF, 2.4 MB, 2 pp) summarizes health services covered by Medicaid, CHIP, and all plans on the Health Insurance Marketplace.
The Value of Health Insurance (PDF, 3.5 MB, 2 pp) describes how health coverage helps American Indians pay for needed care.
Download these materials and other free resources from CMS’s Outreach and Education Resources page or order them. Please allow 2 weeks for your order to be completed.
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Many options for HIV prevention and education
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With World AIDS Day on December 1, the entire month of December is a prime time to work on stopping the spread of HIV and AIDS. Addressing stigma and ignorance is a critical element of HIV prevention and education.
“People still have stigma around HIV. Some people still think it’s a gay disease,” says Mattee Jim, a Navajo transgender advocate and HIV prevention educator who has been working in tribal communities for 20 years. “Even saying ‘HIV,’ people get startled or their eyes open really wide. Or when the HIV subject comes up, they don’t want to talk about it.”
Jim works for the HIV Prevention Programs at the First Nations Community HealthSource in Albuquerque, NM.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes in its research about HIV and American Indians and Alaska Natives that 1 in 5 who were living with HIV did not know their status in 2013, and that most HIV cases in 2013 were among men who have sex with men—those who identify as gay or bisexual.
Among Native, LGBTQ, and Two Spirit youth, Jim says providing HIV prevention education is a difficult task. She empowers youth to sit at the table to discuss HIV and sexually transmitted infection education and prevention efforts. Jim uses several resources to connect Native youth to practice safer sex, including education on:
- PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis)—an anti-HIV medicine
- condom use
- getting tested for HIV
- harm reduction and behavior changes
Additional resource:
The World AIDS Day Let’s End It campaign aims to end HIV globally.
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Tips for enrollment assisters
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CMS’s Information and Tips for Assisters: Working with American Indians/Alaska Natives outlines information that will help you connect tribal members to health care coverage.
It covers:
- special Health Insurance Marketplace protections for American Indians and Alaska Natives
- documentation tribal members will need to sign up for coverage
- the Indian exemption
- where to find additional resources
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Teach your community about diabetes prevention
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New IHS diabetes education lesson plans cover physical activity and foot care. These resources can be used by health educators to develop a new educational program or supplement an existing lesson plan to encourage self-care.
Lesson plans include:
- printable education materials, such as tips sheets
- participant materials, such as videos
- educator training and background
- lesson framework
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HHS, Administration for Community Living webinars
View upcoming webinars:
- Title VI: The Gift of Caregiving, December 13, 2017
- Title VI Webinar, January 10, 2018
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United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY) Midyear Conference
January 2–5, 2018
Tempe, AZ
Learn more and register
This conference for American Indian and Alaska Native youth provides opportunities for them to grow as leaders and become more involved in improving their communities.
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CMS Indian Health Service, Tribal, or Urban Indian Health trainings
This training is for business staff, benefits coordinators, medical records staff, and patient registration staff. It covers CMS Tribal Affairs updates, Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, the Health Insurance Marketplace, state-administered programs, Social Security, and Veterans Affairs. The third day, hosted by Indian Health Service, focuses on how to maximize access to third-party resources and improve access to quality health care.
Trainings in 2018
- March 20–22 in Denver, CO
- April 3–4 in Seattle, WA
- April 17–19 in Sacramento, CA
- April 23–24 in Albuquerque, NM
- May 3–4 in Chicago, IL
- May 8–9 in Dallas, TX
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2018 Native Women and Men’s Wellness and Diabetes Prevention Conference
March 25–28, 2018
New Orleans, LA
Learn more
The American Indian Institute at the University of Oklahoma conference will offer presentations by national speakers, continuing education, networking opportunities, and resources to enhance diabetes prevention services.
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Native American Child and Family Conference
March 12–15, 2018
Las Vegas, NV
Learn more
This conference will provide training opportunities related to Head Start, Early Head Start, and child care programs.
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2018 Tribal Self-Governance Annual Conference
April 22–26, 2018
Albuquerque, NM
Learn more
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About the Newsletter
Covering Indian Country is published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Division of Tribal Affairs to share resources, success stories, and best practices with the people who connect tribal communities to health insurance.
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