Indian Health Service
IHS Logo
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| Operating Division overview | |
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| Formed | 1955 |
| Preceding Operating Division | |
| Jurisdiction | U.S. federal government |
| Headquarters | The Reyes Building, 801 Thompson Avenue, Rockville, Maryland, U.S., 20852 |
| Annual budget | $3.8 billion |
| Operating Division executive | |
| Child Operating Division |
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| Website | www |
The Indian Health Service (IHS) is an operating division (OPDIV) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). IHS is responsible for providing direct medical and public health services to members of federally recognized Native American Tribes and Alaska Native people. IHS is the principal federal health care provider and health advocate for Indian people, and its mission is to raise their health status to the highest possible level.
IHS provides health care to American Indians and Alaska Natives at 33 hospitals, 59 health centers, and 50 health stations. Thirty-four urban Indian health projects supplement these facilities with a variety of health and referral services. Many Tribes also operate their own health systems independent of IHS.
IHS was established in 1956 to take over health care of American Indian and Alaska Natives from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to the Public Health Service (PHS) in hopes of improving the healthcare of Native Americans living on Reservations. The provision of health services to members of federally recognized tribes grew out of the special government-to-government relationship between the federal government and Indian tribes. This relationship, established in 1787, is based on Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, and has been given form and substance by numerous treaties, laws, Supreme Court decisions, and Executive Orders. The IHS currently provides health services to approximately 1.8 million of the 3.3 million American Indians and Alaska Natives who belong to more than 557 federally recognized tribes in 35 states. The agency's annual budget is about $4.3 billion (as of December 2011).
The IHS employs approximately 2,700 nurses, 900 physicians, 400 engineers, 500 pharmacists, and 300 dentists, as well as other health professionals totaling more than 15,000 in all. The Indian Health Service is one of two federal agencies mandated to use Indian Preference in hiring. This law requires the agency to give preference hiring to qualified Indian applicants before considering non-Indian candidates for positions.
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