Cherokee Nation awarded health project

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) – The Cherokee Nation has been awarded an Indian Health Service Joint Venture Construction Program project that will add a new facility to the tribe’s W.W. Hastings Hospital in Tahlequah.

The agreement calls for the tribe to build the 250,000-square-foot facility and the IHS to provide up to $30 million a year for 20 years for staffing and operations.

The Cherokees were among the top three tribes selected from a pool of 37 applicants.

The expanded hospital campus will help reduce the strain on the current facility, which was built 30 years ago to accommodate 65,000 outpatient visits each year. Today, the hospital serves more than 400,000 patient visits annually.

The new facility will include more than 100 exam rooms and dozens of specialty rooms.