Chairman slams Indian Health Services hiring decision

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has slammed the federal agency that delivers health care to approximately 130,000 Native Americans located in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa for declining to hire tribal leaders’ choice for an area director. Chairman Harold Frazier released a letter to President Joe Biden criticizing the decision for Indian Health Services to re-advertise the Great Plains area director position after tribal leaders had interviewed and recommended a candidate. Frazier’s criticism comes as tribal health advocates have pushed for stability in an agency that’s chronically underfunded and struggles to meet the needs of Indian Country.