Indian Service Hospital

A hospital under the jurisdiction of the Indian Health Service (HIS), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Indian Health Service was created in 1955 and originally had 48 hospitals and 93 other facilities. In 1956, as directed by the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, a survey was conducted, including an in-depth study on nine reservations, to determine the health status of and the measures needed to improve the health of Native people. This survey found that a substantial health program was needed. The system continued to expand, and in the Indian Health Care Improvement Act of 1976, Congress created two national goals for this health care program: to elevate the health care standard of Native Americans, and to try to get as many enrolled tribal peoples as possible to use the program.