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Navajo Nation Urges Trump Administration to Appoint Qualified Indian Health Service Director

Panoramio
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Creative Commons
The Northern Navajo Medical Center in Shiprock is run by the Indian Health Service.

The president of the Navajo Nation is calling on the Trump administration to hurry up and find a director for the Indian Health Service. The agency, which has not had a permanent director since 2015, provides health care for more than 2 million Native people. On Wednesday, Trump’s nominee to fill the post withdrew himself from consideration after his qualifications were  challenged. The Wall Street Journal had reported that former co-workers were questioning whether Robert Weaver, who is 39 and a member of the Quapaw tribe of Oklahoma, had accurately represented the amount of work experience he had when he appeared before a Senate committee. He reportedly said he’d held a supervisory position at a medical center in Missouri, but people with the hospital said they did not remember him and suggested he’d held an entry-level position instead. In a release, Navajo President Russell Begaye called the situation “unacceptable.” He said, “We need a leader who understands the health issues that Indian Country faces.” Vice President Jonathan Nez echoed those concerns, saying, “Our Nation still battles the monsters of cancer, diabetes and addiction.” Begaye urged the Trump administration to seek a director who has a holistic and comprehensive understanding of Navajo health issues, saying the tribe needs centers for oncology and heart disease. Begaye said implementing improvements on the reservation requires working with a knowledgeable IHS director.

Gail Binkly is a career journalist who has worked for the Colorado Springs Gazette and Cortez Journal, and was the editor of the Four Corners Free Press, based in Cortez.