By Media Relations Department
Chickasaw Nation Media Relations Office
Governor Bill Anoatubby and Lt. Governor Jefferson Keel are joined by tribal and health care officials and guests to commemorate the groundbreaking of the new Chickasaw Nation hospital
ADA, Okla. – Chickasaw Nation officials broke ground on Friday, Nov. 9 on a new 370,000 square foot health care facility.
Groundbreaking ceremonies were conducted on the site of the proposed facility, 1921 Stonecipher Blvd. in Ada.
More than 750 people attended the historic event.
The new facility will almost triple the size of the Carl Albert Indian Health Facility.
Approximately $45 million in tribal business profits and a $90 million bond issue will finance construction of the facility.
Consistent growth in the number of patient visits since the Carl Albert Indian Health Facility was constructed in 1980, led to the need for the new facility.
While Ada campus facilities were built to accommodate 20,500 annual patient visits, in 2005, those facilities served more than 238,400 patient visits.
A June 2003 strategic planning exercise involving Chickasaw Nation Health System leadership revealed that growth of the Carl Albert Indian Health Facility is limited by its geographic location.
In August 2005, Governor Anoatubby commissioned a master plan project.
Project team members took a full three months to evaluate various expansion options, including expanding the current facility and constructing a new facility at a new location.
After evaluating the positive and negative aspects of expanding the current facility compared to constructing a new facility, Chickasaw Nation Health System officials made the decision to build a new, state-of-the-art health care facility.
"Its been a lot of blood, sweat and tears," said Bill Lance, CNHS Administrator, as he thanked the many people involved in planning for the new facility.
While a study showed almost identical costs for constructing a new facility compared to enlarging and remodeling CAIHF, constructing a new facility at a separate location was shown to provide several advantages.
First, building a new facility will allow patient care at CAIHF to proceed without interruption.
Second, constructing a new facility can be accomplished in considerably less time than expanding the current facility.
Beyond that, a new facility should provide long term savings in maintenance, utility and operation costs.
"Today we are one step closer to achieving our vision of healthy American Indians through informed choices and excellent health services," said Governor Bill Anoatubby. "This facility will allow us to provide the highest quality patient care for generations to come."
Oklahoma State Senator Susan paddack commemorated the event by saying, "as good as it is today, its just going to get better. This facility will have impact and ramifications all across the state."
In January 2006, the tribal legislature unanimously approved the budget for a new facility.
Plans for the new facility include a 72-bed hospital, level 3 emergency department, ambulatory care facility, diabetes care center, dental clinic, pharmacy refill center, diagnostic imaging center and women's health center, all located on a single campus.
Careful planning for the new facility resulted in the CNHS being selected Oct. 17, 2007, to receive millions in additional annual funding under the Indian Health Service Joint Venture program.
The site for the new facility allows easy access to the campus from state Highway 3.
