Indian Health Service and Chickasaw Nation to Sign Joint Venture Agreement and Lease for Newcastle Medical Center

Indian Health Service and Chickasaw Nation to Sign Joint Venture Agreement and Lease for Newcastle Medical Center

On December 30, Indian Health Service (IHS) Director Roselyn Tso and the Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby will sign a joint venture agreement and lease for the development and operation of the proposed Newcastle Medical Center in Newcastle, Oklahoma. The project is expected to be built in three phases over a multi-year construction cycle.

"I am very pleased the Indian Health Service and Chickasaw Nation have partnered to create and operate the incredible Newcastle Medical Center," said IHS Director Roselyn Tso. "The Chickasaw Nation has a long and proud history of providing top-tier services to its citizens. I have no doubt this new healthcare facility will do much to further our mission to raise the physical, mental, social, and spiritual health of American Indians and Alaska Natives to the highest level."

Located within the outer suburbs of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area, the comprehensive medical center will serve patients in the Ada Service Unit as well as patients from the surrounding area. Services at the facility will include primary care, specialty care, intensive care beds, inpatient beds, crisis intervention beds, labor and delivery, surgery, emergency department, and numerous support services. The medical center will provide special services for pediatrics patients, as well as home health services.

The final project design will be approximately 2.4 million gross square feet to be built as multiple structures on a campus encompassing 158 acres.

Section 818 of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, P.L. 94-437, authorizes the IHS to establish joint venture projects under which tribes or tribal organizations would acquire, construct, or renovate a health care facility and lease it to the IHS, at no cost, for a period of 20 years. Participants in this competitive program are selected from among eligible applicants who agree to provide an appropriate facility to IHS. The facility may be an inpatient or outpatient facility. The Tribe must use tribal, private or other available (non-IHS) funds to design and construct the facility. In return the IHS will submit requests to Congress for funding for the staff, operations, and maintenance of the facility per the Joint Venture Agreement. The Chickasaw Nation project was selected in FY 2020.

The IHS, an agency in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides a comprehensive health service delivery system for approximately 2.8 million American Indians and Alaska Natives who belong to 574 federally recognized tribes in 37 states. Follow the agency via social media on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.