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- By Chez Oxendine
- Health Care
A new economic analysis found Cherokee Nation Health Services generated more than $2 billion in statewide economic output in fiscal year 2025, highlighting the economic role tribal healthcare systems can play in rural Oklahoma.
The 2025 Economic Impact of Cherokee Nation Health report, prepared by Dr. Russell Evans, dean of the College of Business at the University of Central Oklahoma, found the health system supported nearly 11,500 jobs and $781.7 million in labor income. The report was presented Tuesday at the Cherokee Nation Healthcare Economic Impact Summit in Tahlequah.
The report attributed the economic impact to Cherokee Nation Health Services' operations across 12 facilities, public health and wellness programs, purchased and referred care, employee healthcare utilization, and Medicaid expansion funding. It found direct operations supported more than 5,900 jobs and generated $418 million in labor income.
“What this data shows us is that Cherokee Nation Health Services is a uniquely positioned institution, operating on both the supply and demand sides of Oklahoma’s healthcare economy,” Cherokee Nation Chief Economist Tralynna Scott said. The health system is the largest tribally operated healthcare system in the United States, according to the report.
The report also found $1.12 billion in healthcare facility and equipment investments over the past decade, including the new Cherokee Nation Outpatient Health Center, the replacement of W.W. Hastings Hospital and expanded health centers in several communities. Another $600 million in projects are under construction or planned.
Additional impacts included contract health payments supporting more than 1,600 jobs, employee health benefits supporting more than 1,200 jobs and Medicaid expansion funding tied to more than 1,400 jobs.
“When people have access to quality healthcare, families thrive and communities grow stronger,” Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said. “Through our healthcare system, partnerships and investments in people, Cherokee Nation is creating lasting opportunities for better health, a stronger economy and a brighter future.”
