Osage Nation Announces New Wahzhazhe Health Center Chief Medical Officer

PAWHUSKA, OK – Dr. Amanda Bighorse, D.O. (Osage and Cherokee) begins her role as the Wahzhazhe Health Center Chief Medical Officer on July 1, 2021. Bighorse was previously employed by the Wahzhazhe Health Center as an AOBFP Certified Family Medicine Physician in 2017/18.  

“I am so excited about the opportunity to return to Pawhuska and serve the Osage community again,” said Bighorse. “In speaking with Chief Standing Bear, other members of the leadership team and the community, it is apparent we all share a similar vision and goal for the future: to create a health system which provides exceptional quality of care and continues to evolve to meet the needs of our people. I am looking forward to my new role and doing my part to help make this happen.”  

Bighorse began her college education at Northeastern State University, became a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine at the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine and was a Chief Family Medicine Resident at Tahlequah City Hospital. Before working at the Osage Nation Wahzhazhe Health Center, she was an attending physician at the Cherokee Nation W.W. Hastings Primary Care Clinic and has spent the last three years as a Medical Director at Cherokee Nation Health Services.   

Osage Nation Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear is confident that the Health Center will thrive under the direction of Dr. Bighorse.  

“The medical leadership of our Osage Nation health systems is now in the hands of the most capable Dr. Amanda Bighorse,” said Geoffrey Standing Bear, Osage Nation Principal Chief. “We are looking forward to the future with her.”  

The Wahzhazhe Health Center is a 9,731 sq. ft. facility with a drive-thru pharmacy and direct mail program located on the Osage Nation campus in Pawhuska, OK. Direct services are available to all eligible Native Americans and referred care is allowable to those residing within the Osage Nation Reservation, Kay, Grant, Noble, Payne, Pawnee and Garfield Counties. All tribes are welcome.