ROCKVILLE, MD – The Indian Health Service Office of Urban Indian Health Programs has awarded $1.35 million to the National Council of Urban Indian Health (NCUIH) for the Urban Indian Education and Research Program. Through this cooperative agreement, NCUIH will act as an education and research partner for 41 urban Indian organizations in 22 states, offering assistance on public policy; research and data; training and technical assistance; education, public relations and marketing; and payment system reform and monitoring regulations. The cooperative agreement period of performance is five years.
“Addressing the health and resource needs of our urban Indian communities is one of the top priorities at the Indian Health Service,” said IHS Acting Director Elizabeth Fowler. “Together, we will continue our work with NCUIH and urban Indian organizations across Indian Country to improve the health status of urban Indians.”
The IHS Office of Urban Indian Health Programs was established in 1976 to make health care services more accessible to urban Indians. IHS enters into limited, competing contracts and grants with 41 non-profit urban Indian organizations to provide health care and referral services for urban Indians throughout the U.S.
Urban Indian organizations define their services based upon the service population, health status, and documented unmet needs of the urban Indian communities they serve. Urban Indian organizations provide health care services for urban Indians who do not have access to the resources offered through the IHS or tribally-operated health care facilities because they do not live on or near a reservation.
The IHS, an agency in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides a comprehensive health service delivery system for approximately 2.7 million American Indians and Alaska Natives who belong to 574 federally recognized tribes in 37 states.