Indian Health Service supports goals of bill addressing reservation hospitals

The head of the federal agency responsible for providing healthcare to Native Americans believes legislation recently introduced in the U.S. Senate would help fix severe shortcomings at its hospitals nationwide.

Mary Smith, principal deputy director of the Indian Health Service, spoke with The Associated Press ahead of a U.S. Senate committee hearing scheduled for Friday in South Dakota where the proposed legislation was expected to be discussed. The measure comes as the IHS implements a series of reforms, some aimed at addressing severe quality-of-care deficiencies that health inspectors recently found at hospitals on Native American reservations in the Great Plains.

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20160617/NEWS/306179996