Friday, April 4, 2025
4/4/2025
The Wo'ohitike Collaborative - The Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board (GPTLHB) is a community-based 501(c)(3) tribal entity that provides culturally credible approaches in public health support and healthcare advocacy to the 17 tribal nations and one service area in the Great Plains area (GPA) of South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa. Founded in 1986, GPTLHB stands as a formal representative board designed to advocate for tribal health concerns and work with tribal communities to improve health status and eradicate health disparities among the region's estimated 265,837 tribal members (according to provisional 2020 U.S. Census data). In 2019, the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe authorized GPTLHB to manage their shares of the Indian Health Service (IHS) health care facility located in Rapid City, South Dakota. GPTLHB assumed administration of IHS’s Sioux San facility, renaming it Oyate Health Center (OHC). OHC has established an integrated healthcare model, providing patients with expanded comprehensive services and improved access to behavioral health. GPTLHB and OHC in collaboration with the Oglala Sioux Tribe's Native Women's Health Care (NWHC) recognize the imperative need for a coordinated indigenous approach to address the lack of culturally responsive forensic healthcare services in the 22 counties of Western South Dakota (SD). According to the Sexual Violence in South Dakota 2019 Data Report, SD had the country's third highest state rape incidence rate, with a documented 72.6 rapes per 100,000 inhabitants. Of those victims/survivors of rape, 32.5% were American Indian (AI). According to this report, Pennington County (located in Western SD) had the state’s highest reported rape incidence rate, with 135.6 assaults per 100,000 inhabitants. Rapid City, the most populated urban area in Pennington County, has the second-highest rape rate in the nation (South Dakota Department of Health, March 2021). Understanding that domestic violence and sexual abuse affect all ages and gender identities, our program, the Wo’ohitike Collaborative (TWC), will focus on a priority population that encompasses all AI residing in Pennington County. TWC will use a collaborative multidisciplinary team to implement culturally appropriate services across the region that provide relatives with respect, advocacy, forensic healthcare, hope, and traditional healing. Wo’ohitike means bravery in Lakota a virtue the TWC intends to foster by developing an indigenous focused Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) for improved response services; training medical personnel for sexual assault medical forensic examinations (SAMFE), forensic interviewing, and advocacy; building a referral service network; and implementing culturally appropriate, trauma-informed approaches to affect positive outcomes and wellbeing for survivors.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).