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Cherokee Nation Health Services reports record ER visits, readies new hospital and service expansions
Summary
At a Cherokee Nation council meeting, Dr. Jones reported a record 5,245 emergency-department visits in December, high prescription volumes and ongoing planning for a phased move into a new hospital. Staffing, supply-chain risks and construction transitions were highlighted as operational priorities.
Dr. Jones, Cherokee Nation Health Services director, told the Cherokee Nation council that the health system recorded 5,245 emergency-department visits in December and expects January to exceed that figure amid a strong influenza season.
The report, delivered during the council’s meeting packet review, said the system filled roughly 209,000 prescriptions in the period and kept third-party revenues stable despite changes in Medicaid eligibility. “Third-party revenues holding steady despite the fact that we’ve had a decrease in the eligibility in some of things like Medicaid,” Dr. Jones said during the presentation.
The system is planning a phased transition into a new hospital expected to begin in just over a year. Dr. Jones said teams are already preparing staff training, fire-safety walkthroughs and staged patient transfers. “It’s a very complicated and massive undertaking for the hospital… we can't just shut our doors at Hastings 1 day and open them over in the new hospital…
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