TAHLEQUAH—The Cherokee Nation on Wednesday officially absorbed W.W. Hastings Indian Hospital into its health care system.

The process has lasted nine months and involved negotiations between the nation, the hospital staff and the Indian Health Service. Until now, the IHS has taken the administrative role.

Chad Smith, principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, said the cooperative process involved people in a number of disciplines. The first priority was to set driving principles like maintaining quality of care, and leaving matters of personality and ownership on the sidelines, he said.

“Someone asked me when we built the Sequoyah High School gymnasium was I proud of that,” he said. “I told them of course, but I also looked at it as a symbol of a great challenge as to what we can do next. That’s how I look at this hospital; now that we’ve done this, what can we do next?”

Hastings opened at its present site in 1984. It has 58 beds and employs approximately 600.

The Cherokee Nation’s site master planning document listed problems at Hastings, including:

Last year, the hospital recorded approximately 244,000 patient visits in space meant to accommodate 60,000 patient visits. Even with the higher number of patients seen at Hastings, there is no federal plan in place to expand space.

In July, the Cherokee Nation unveiled plans for a health care complex on 45-acres the nation owns next to the hospital. It would include a 200,000 square-foot health care facility, a new surgery center, and other facilities. The plan incorporates the operation of the hospital as well.

Brenda Fowler, a registered nurse at Hastings, said she is excited about the nation’s quality improvement program.

“I’m confident that it can be done,” she said. “It depends on our leadership. This will be a positive thing for the people who use the hospital.”

Fowler added she is pleased to see the Cherokee Nation’s plans to expand the hospital onto the nearby land.

“A bigger facility is what I feel is really needed,” she said. “And we also need more services; more specialized services.”

A.D. Ellis, chief of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, said that there are more than 10,000 Creeks who qualify for services at Hastings.

“This event is very important,” he said. “We work very closely with the Cherokees. The federal government used to be able to operate the hospital better because they had all the educated people. But now I believe we do it better; we have more self-government and are moving ahead quickly.”