Cherokee Nation breaks ground on new Claremore Outpatient and Emergency Health Center

CLAREMORE, Okla. - Cherokee Nation leaders gathered Tuesday to celebrate the groundbreaking for the new Claremore Outpatient and Emergency Health Center, a state-of-the-art facility that will replace the current Claremore health center and significantly expand healthcare access for citizens and patients across the Claremore service area.

The new health center, funded entirely with Cherokee Nation general funds without borrowing or federal funding, will be located on Scissortail Boulevard near Highway 66 and West Country Club Road in Claremore. The $400 million, 400,000-square-foot facility is expected to be completed in the summer of 2029 and will be designed to accommodate a future in-patient unit on the property.

Once fully operational, the new health center is expected to employ approximately 750 people, nearly double the 375 full-time employees currently working at the current Claremore facility.

The Claremore service area currently includes 126,891 eligible beneficiaries, of whom 78,829 are Cherokee Nation citizens, according to 2023 user data.

"When we took over operations at Claremore, we promised the Cherokee people and all Native families in this region that we would deliver a healthcare facility worthy of their trust," said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. "This groundbreaking is a major step toward fulfilling that promise, and it ensures we can build a facility that not only meets today's standards but is designed to serve our growing community for generations to come."

Cherokee Nation assumed operations of the former Claremore Indian Hospital from the federal Indian Health Service in October 2025, renaming the facility the Claremore Outpatient and Emergency Health Center. Since then, the tribe has invested in expanding hours, recruiting providers and launching new service lines to meet growing demand, while planning a permanent new facility to serve the region for generations to come.

"Cherokee Nation has always held itself to the highest standards of healthcare, and this groundbreaking is a reflection of that commitment," said Deputy Principal Chief Bryan Warner. "We are not cutting corners. We are building a facility that will provide the quality of care that Native people in Northeast Oklahoma deserve, one that matches the excellence our patients already experience across the Cherokee Nation health system."

The Claremore facility had more than 13,000 patient services in January 2026 alone, and the Primary Care Clinic has grown from 3,990 patients in October 2025 to 5,486 in January 2026. The new facility will build on that momentum with a range of new and expanded service lines designed to meet growing patient demand, including a Same Day Clinic, medication-assisted treatment, pediatric psychiatry, endocrinology, nephrology, tele-neurology, tele-stroke support for the emergency department, speech therapy, occupational therapy, transportation services and outpatient dietitian services.

Existing services will also see significant expansion. A second sound booth will increase audiology appointment availability, and the cardiology clinic will expand from one day a week to five days a week. A pediatric dentist will join the health center starting in fiscal year 2027, alongside new adult dental services. The facility will also add 24/7 ultrasound coverage, evening MRI appointments, increased surgical podiatry cases through the partnership with Hillcrest Pryor, breast biopsy services and a planned eyeglass dispensary.

A modular building completed in June 2026 already gives the Cardiology, Women's Clinic and Podiatry departments additional space aligned with patient demand, helping meet needs until the new facility opens. Appointment availability and clinic hours are also increasing across all service lines.

"With every new service line and every additional exam room, we are directly addressing the needs our patients have told us matter most," said Wayne Coldwell, Cherokee Nation Health Services COO. "This facility allows us to bring more specialty care closer to home and reduce the need for our patients to travel long distances for the treatment they need."

Beyond its opening-day services, the new health center is designed with future growth in mind. The second floor will house behavioral health and MAT services, audiology (including three sound booths), rehabilitation services, purchased/referred care, quality management, community health nursing, a dental clinic and optometry, improving patient flow for specialties that don't fit within the facility's clinical pods.

The third floor will support the Women's Clinic, pediatric services and expanded primary care. The added space will give the Women's Clinic designated ultrasound rooms and the ability to perform non-stress tests if labor and delivery services become operational in the future. Pediatrics, which currently has four board-certified pediatricians sharing seven exam rooms, will grow to 24 exam rooms, creating room to add more pediatricians as demand increases.

The fourth floor is reserved for the strategic growth of specialty services as health system demand is evaluated. Claremore's proximity to Tulsa enhances access to specialty providers who may not otherwise be available in the area. Cherokee Nation Health Services is already in active discussions with a nephrology group regarding clinic days in Claremore.

The additional space will also allow on-site nurse educators to support staff competencies and ongoing training across the health system. The facility will further give Claremore the capacity to host medical residents and students, supporting the Tahlequah campus in expanding residency programs through additional clinical training sites and promoting long-term workforce development.

A 29,000 square-foot wellness center is part of the construction project as well.

"When I took office as the Councilor for the Rogers County area, I met with Chief Hoskin and discussed the need to assume operations of the Claremore Indian Hospital. It was clear that assuming operations would ultimately provide the Cherokee people a higher quality of health services focused on their needs. Chief Hoskin promised we would get that done, and this groundbreaking of a new health facility in Claremore is proof of a strong, productive administration and Council. The future of healthcare in our community is bright," Deputy Speaker of the Council Kevin Easley Jr. said.

The new facility adds to a growing body of evidence on the economic role Cherokee Nation Health Services plays across the state. A 2025 economic impact report prepared for Cherokee Nation found that CNHS generated more than $2 billion in statewide economic output and supported nearly 11,500 Oklahoma jobs in fiscal year 2025, underscoring how continued investments like the new Claremore facility strengthen not only patient care but the broader economies of the communities CNHS serves.

Cherokee Nation operates the largest tribally operated health system in Indian Country, handling over 3.3 million patient services per year across 12 health facilities. The tribe recently completed and opened the new Salina Amo Health Center and the new W.W. Hastings Hospital in Tahlequah.

The Cherokee Nation will research the future use of the Claremore Health Center property.

For more information about Cherokee Nation Health Services, visit https://health.cherokee.org/.