Staff led the Director of the Indian Health Service on a tour of the Billings Urban Indian Health and Wellness Center Thursday, July 11.
The center’s parent company, the Native American Development Corporation, bought the building two years ago. For many years it was the local headquarters of the fraternal organization the Shriners and an event venue.
Now, it’s the Eagle Seeker Community Center and still growing into its new role. The Indian Health Service last year invested an additional $200,000 to help fix and expand the building.
“Certainly our role and our responsibility is to provide care where we can to the people that we serve,” said Director of the Indian Health Service Roslyn Tso.
As an Urban Indian organization, the health and wellness center uses a mix of grants, IHS dollars and insurance reimbursement to fund culturally-informed medical services including psychiatric treatment and physical check-ups.
“With regards to insurance,” said Tso. “You heard some of that conversation earlier today. [We’re] doing everything we can to encourage our population to be enrolled in those programs that they might be eligible for, like Medicaid or Medicare and those kinds of services. That’s what we do, and that’s how we’re trying to make sure everyone has access to the care that they need.”
Administrators with the Native American Development Corporation say around 60 percent of clinic patients lost Medicaid coverage through the process of unwinding. They say they’re making it a priority to help those who seek their services to re-enroll.
