Wednesday, April 2, 2025
4/2/2025
Combatting HIV/HCV/Syphilis Epidemic Project - The Muscogee (Creek) Nation is proposing the project utilizing focusing area two- clinical services. To combat the HIV/HCV/Syphilis epidemic by enhancing patient care coordination, patient navigation, treatment, and retention care along with prevention services delivery and increasing training and support services available to patients. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation (MCN) is the fourth largest federally recognized tribe in the United States with a total population of 100,771 tribal citizens – more than half live within the tribal jurisdiction. MCN tribal headquarters are centrally situated within the Muscogee Nation’s jurisdiction in the city of Okmulgee. The service area consists of urban, rural, and very rural-remote areas. Population densities vary from small-unincorporated communities, with fewer than 50 residents, to Tulsa, one of the largest metropolitan areas within the State of Oklahoma. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation Department of Health (MCNDH) was first established in 1977, when the MCN signed a sublease and an operation and maintenance agreement with the trustees of the Okfuskee County Commissioners to occupy and operate the former Okfuskee County Hospital, now Creek Nation Community Hospital (CNCH), in Okemah, Oklahoma. This allowed MCN to serve the citizens of the tribe and the broader community. In 2002, MCN compacted under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 (ISDEAA) to provide comprehensive health care services to eligible American Indians/Alaskan Natives (AI/AN), who primarily reside in the MCN jurisdictional boundaries, as well as serving the needs of other community residents. Today, the MCNDH operates a health system, which includes two community-based hospitals, six outpatient primary clinics, one physical rehabilitation service, and a skilled nursing inpatient facility. MCN provides primary care, urgent care, dental, optometry, behavioral health services, and ancillary services such as laboratory, radiology, and pharmacy. The MCNDH also offers specialty services such as pediatrics, wound care, physical therapy, diabetes management, and tobacco cessation. As a comprehensive health facility providing services to all generations, MCN has complementary services to assist in taking care of the whole person. These services include Purchased and Referred Care which provides tertiary care for patients who require care not available in our facilities. Community health representatives provide outreach and health promotion/disease prevention services to the community. The Indian Health Service (IHS) will collaborate with MCNDH to further reveal and correct HIV, HCV, STI, and LGBTQ and Two-Spirit (2S) healthcare disparities and provide appropriate services within the context of the Creek culture. Moreover, IHS and MCNDH will make every effort to reconcile and overcome the pervasive sense of personal and spiritual alienation experienced by many AI/ANs and their families. They may ultimately benefit from this project. Tragically, substance abuse, behavioral health, and HIV/HCV/STI services for AI/AN adults and youth in this section of Oklahoma are fragmented and difficult to access. The MCN EHE Project proposal includes the following outcomes, objectives, and activities, including integrating Ending HIV Epidemic (EHE) strategies. (1) increase engagement in prevention and treatment for HIV/HCV/STIs; (2) coordinate internal and external partner efforts around the core EHE strategies; (3) reduce stigma around HIV; (4) promote systems-level change at the tribal level to embrace LGBTQ2S engagement and care as a core strategy; and (5) decrease the rates of HIV/HCV/STIs for AI/AN adults and youth within the area served by the Creek Nation.
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).