At least one western South Dakota tribe is pulling its share of funding from a clinic meant to provide women’s health services for enrolled members living in Rapid City.
One official said that’s because the clinic has not offered appointments for over a year.
The Native Women’s Health Clinic is contracted to provide obstetric and gynecologic services for eligible Indian women. The clinic is located in the Oyate Health Center but operates as a separate organization.
According to a report obtained by SDPB earlier this year, the clinic had 4,800 visits in 2021. The number of visits plummeted to zero by April of 2023.
This April, both Rosebud and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes put the clinic on notice—saying they would pull their funding shares if the clinic failed to start seeing patients.
Rosebud Sioux Tribal President Scott Herman said the tribe has concern about the women’s health clinic.
“It was stated at one of the meetings they haven’t provided that service for a year and a half," Herman said. "It became an issue with some of the leadership as far as how we’re going to provide that service down there.”
Herman said the Rosebud Sioux Tribe is trying to correct a problem. He said it’s too premature to say what the tribes plan to do with their shares allotted to the tribe to fund women’s health in Rapid City.
Patients are getting referred to midwives located at Oyate Health Center and floor below the clinic, as well as other clinics in Rapid City.
Herman said Rosebud’s resolution mirrors a Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe resolution to pull its shares from Native Women’s Health Clinic. Cheyenne River officials have not return requests for comment. Additionally, the tribe voted last month to pull its publicly available council meeting video feed.
Native Women's Health Clinic is administered by the Oglala Sioux Tribe. OST President Frank Star Comes Out has also not returned requests for comment.
In April, Star Comes Out told SDPB the tribe had addressed the lack of providers issue.
"It’ll be monitored from here on out. We have—we definitely did address it," Star Comes Out said in April. "It’ll be handled by the Oglala Sioux Tribe, for now.”
