Arizona lawmakers urge halt to plan that would close Tucson tribal health office

Tribal health services in Tucson are at the center of a new fight on Capitol Hill, as Arizona’s two U.S. senators and a Tucson-area congresswoman urge the Indian Health Service to suspend a plan that would eliminate its Tucson Area Office and fold it into the agency’s Phoenix office.

The lawmakers warn the move would disrupt care for nearly 28,000 Native American patients in Southern Arizona.

In a June 1 letter to IHS Chief of Staff Clayton Fulton, Democratic Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly and Rep. Adelita Grijalva said the consolidation should not move forward until the agency completes formal consultation with affected tribes and clarifies how the merger would affect health services.

“We ask that you immediately suspend implementation of the merger until you have clarified any impact this consolidation will have on the tribal nations in Southern Arizona and have completed meaningful, formal tribal consultation,” the lawmakers wrote.

The Tucson Area Office coordinates health services for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and the Tohono O’odham Nation. According to the lawmakers, closing it would force patients and staff to travel as long as two hours to reach the nearest IHS office.

“Eliminating the Tucson Area Office will result in five million (losing healthcare) service for Tohono O’odham and Pascua Yaqui. The proposed closure of the Tucson Area Office will not achieve the goals of IHS realignment. It will not improve or streamline healthcare services and will not support Tribal self-governance,” Carla Johnson with the Tohono O’odham Nation said in a statement.

Tucson tribal health office the only 1 being cut under broader IHS realignment

“It remains unclear how the Tucson Area Office, the only office that would be consolidated through this initiative, was selected for consolidation and whether the repercussions of this decision have been fully considered,” the letter from lawmakers said.

Gallego, Kelly and Grijalva asked the agency to respond in writing by June 15 to four questions, including what criteria led to selecting the Tucson office for closure.

The letter was addressed to Fulton, who is exercising the delegated authority of the IHS director.

The IHS has not publicly responded to the letter or to KTAR requests for comment.

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