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Cherokee Nation health leaders report staffing gaps, EHR migration work and dialysis access concerns ahead of Claremore transition
Summary
Officials reported provider vacancies at Claremore Indian Hospital, progress on Cerner EHR migration and new benefit-coordination contracting, while members raised concerns about lack of outpatient dialysis and dental access.
Cherokee Nation health officials and Claremore Indian Hospital representatives briefed the Cherokee Nation Health Committee about staffing shortages, an electronic health-record migration and ongoing gaps in outpatient dialysis and dental access during the committee meeting.
The updates matter because the tribe is coordinating operational alignment and data migration as it prepares to assume management responsibilities for facilities currently run by the Indian Health Service. Committee members pressed officials on how the changes will affect patient access to care, transportation needs and continuity of medical records.
Captain Murray, reporting for the Claremore service unit, confirmed that Dr. Nix has been named acting clinical director after the retirement of the previous director and that Claremore has about eight provider vacancies out of 39 positions. Captain Murray said Cherokee Nation contracted Resource Corporation of America to search patient records for undocumented insurance and to add verified coverage to the system; he said the contract is active and "we're excited about that" as background checks proceed and staff are onboarded.
Cherokee Nation Health Services Director Dr. Steve Jones reported that the system recorded 997 births in the most recent year, the highest on record for the data he could find. He said construction projects such as the Celina clinic are running about two to three months ahead of schedule and that the health system is working with Claremore staff to align job descriptions and licensure standards so future providers meet Cherokee Nation requirements.
Jones described the electronic health-record migration as a major challenge. He said the Cherokee Nation is moving patients from RPMS into Cerner Millennium (now owned by Oracle) and that historical records must be migrated and reformatted rather than simply linked. "The bigger challenge is how much historical information gets moved over from RPMS," Jones said. He said the health system is working toward a deadline to have the new system in place and plans outreach beginning around May to create Cherokee Nation charts for patients ahead of the planned Oct. 1 transition so patients will already have charts in the Cherokee Nation system.
On dental services, Jones said two dental providers recently left the Stillwell clinic and the health system is recruiting replacements; he described routine use of PRN staff and scheduling strategies to absorb demand but acknowledged some patients report waits of six months to a year in certain clinics.
Committee members pressed officials about dialysis. Jones said Cherokee Nation started an inpatient dialysis program last year and is still developing it; outpatient dialysis is more complicated because of space and regulatory requirements. He noted the tribe works with co-located private dialysis companies and cited a Sallisaw site run by Davita that rents space on Cherokee Nation property. Public Transit Director Kendra told the committee the logistics of getting patients to frequent dialysis appointments is "a big challenge," citing staffing shortages and long travel times for elderly patients.
Jones and committee members discussed provider licensure requirements: Cherokee Nation medical-staff bylaws require Oklahoma licensure for permanent hires, with limited exceptions for locum providers and a grace period for new hires to obtain state licensure.
Other items: Claremore Indian Hospital was named one of four recipients of the 2024 Every Woman Every Baby Perinatal Orientation and Education Program scholarship, which provides perinatal nursing education resources; the Cherokee Nation public-health representative said the Wings Race calendar will include 18 races this year and that the new Celina and StillWell wellness spaces will open later this spring or early summer.
The committee approved the meeting minutes by voice vote earlier in the session; no other formal actions affecting services were taken at this meeting. The committee's next tentative meeting date was announced as Feb. 10.
