Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. officially signed into law the Cherokee Nation Claremore Outpatient and Emergency Health Center Act of 2025, which authorizes $255.5 million to construct a new Claremore health facility. Chief Hoskin signed the legislation with unanimous support from the Council of the Cherokee Nation.

Chief Hoskin and Deputy Chief Bryan Warner proposed the massive investment into a new health care facility as part of the tribe’s planned assumption of operations of Claremore Indian Hospital in October 2025. The plan calls for a state-of-the-art outpatient center, emergency room and a new wellness center to be built in Claremore. The tribe will also invest approximately $11 million into the existing Claremore facility after assuming operations to bring it up to minimum health care standards as the new replacement is being constructed.

“Claremore Indian Hospital is near and dear to my heart. I was born in the ‘old’ facility in 1975. My father was born there in 1952. It was built in 1930 and replaced by the ‘new’ facility in 1978. But overthepasteightmonths, Cherokee Nation leaders have had to face the facts about that federal facility: it is in deplorable shape and is a shameful reflection of the federal government’s failed priorities and treaty obligations,” Chief Hoskin said. “But there is a bright future thanks to Cherokee Nation. This requires leadership, a willingness to take on the federal government over its shameful neglect of Claremore, and the ability to make tough decisions with forethought. That is what the Cherokee people elected me and my fellow leaders to do. That is why the future of Cherokee Nation Health Services in Claremore is bright.”

Claremore Indian Hospital was cutting edge in 1978, meeting 1980s standards and replacing the original Depressionera building. But, Chief Hoskin said, for 47 years, the federal Indian Health Service shielded Claremore from scrutiny by keeping it at 1980s health care facility standards. In that period, IHS chose not to conduct routine maintenance measures nor initiate vital changes that could have prevented the decline of the hospital.

“Claremore’s in-patient services are wasteful. The hospital has fewer than four patients staying per night for treatment; most patients who need inpatient care are being transferred elsewhere. Because of this, there are fewer health resources for our growing and aging population,” Chief Hoskin said. “By holding itself to 1980s standards and failing to invest in upkeep, IHS has allowed Claremore to deteriorate. What patients may see at Claremore on the surface is simply a facade. Behind new paneling are spongy walls damaged by water. Untreated air leaks into sanitized patient spaces, and HVAC systems are on the brink of failure. We learned no one tests the breakers out of fear they will not turn back on, and the generator will fail. These issues are simply unacceptable. These observations and many others, along with more than eight months of careful study, are the reason I am firmer today in my view that Cherokee Nation must assume operations at Claremore. We want to give patients and staff the type of facility they deserve. We want to protect them from what is, frankly, a dangerous situation created by the federal government.”

Although the Cherokee Nation’s replacement facility will eliminate the inpatient operations that currently exist at the federal facility, the new health center will open in 2027 and be built so that it is expandable to include an inpatient tower in the future if the need arises. The current Claremore Indian Hospital is landlocked from potential expansion.

Cherokee Nation is also developing area partnerships for a seamless in-patient experience for patients. The Emergency Department will remain in operation, along with prenatal care. Chief Hoskin said deliveries will be performed within the Cherokee Nation Health Services system or through health partnerships being developed.

“If we are going to deliver health care that meets our high standards of care, we must ensure Native people, including Cherokee citizens, can go to Claremore and receive the quality of care that Cherokee Nation provides through its operations of numerous existing health centers across the Cherokee Nation Reservation,” said Deputy Chief Bryan Warner. “But we simply can’t achieve that level of quality care at the existing Claremore Indian Hospital, as it would cost in excess of $100 million for a facility that is landlocked, preventing necessary expansion.”

IHS and Cherokee Nation have been in negotiations since September of 2024 over the tribe’s assumption of operations.

Cherokee Nation’s Health Services team previously began meeting with Claremore employees to make job offers to applicants from the current workforce of federal employees. Of the 397 positions at Claremore, 387 are being retained, and those positions have been opened exclusively to current Claremore Indian Hospital employees. During the first phase of hiring, nearly 1,100 applications from among current staff were submitted.

Under federal law and regulations, federal employees at Claremore Indian Hospital who decline employment with Cherokee Nation, or who may be among the 10 positions that will be eliminated in total, enjoy a number of federal benefits, including severance packages.

“As a Council, it is often necessary to make tough but important decisions for the Cherokee people. In this case, it is easy to see that replacing the Claremore Indian Hospital and bringing it under the operations of Cherokee Nation Health Services will make generational impacts for Native families in Northeast Oklahoma,” said Speaker of the Council Mike Shambaugh, a cosponsor of the legislation.

Along with budgeting for the new Claremore facility, legislation also calls for an inpatient expansion analysis to be conducted on a biennial basis, beginning with Fiscal Year 2026, and for the tribe to create basic renderings to depict the potential future inpatient unit.

“This investment into the Claremore community is transformational not just for the patients who will be receiving their care from the Cherokee Nation, but in many ways for the community as a whole,” said Deputy Speaker of the Council Kevin Easley, lead sponsor of the legislation. “This is a historic investment into Claremore by the Cherokee Nation. The quality of life for patients who currently use Claremore Indian Hospital will improve. The safety of the operations will improve greatly, and the amazing Claremore staff who come to work for the Cherokee Nation Health Service will soon be in a more state-ofthe- art facility.”

The authority granted Chief Hoskin to construct the new facility under the legislation is conditioned on the conclusion of successful negotiations with IHS on the assumption of operations of the “Claremore Service Unit,” as the current facility is formally known. Cherokee Nation is working to identify a location for the new facility and begin the designing phase for the future building.

Once a successful agreement has been reached for assumption of operations, Cherokee Nation will own the current facility located at 101 S. Moore Avenue in Claremore and will continue operating the facility until the new Cherokee Nation Claremore Outpatient and Emergency Health Center is completed in 2027.

Cherokee Nation operates the largest health system in Indian Country. The system handles over 2 million patient visits per year across 11 health facilities. Two of those facilities – the Salina Amo Health Center and W.W. Hastings Hospital in Tahlequah – are being replaced by new, larger state-of-the-art facilities.

The Cherokee Nation Health system includes a wide range of programs and services are available to citizens of all federally recognized tribes within the reservation.