Osage Nation Breaks Ground On New State-Of-The-Art Health Clinic

The Osage Nation is building a new Wahzhazhe health clinic in Pawhuska.

The tribe says the new space is six times larger than what they have now.

"We can go back to several tribal councils ago, we can go back to most of our employees were now little kids when the conversation started," she said.

Osage Nation Congresswoman Paula Stabler says the new clinic has been decades in the making, and she has been working on the project since 2015.

It'll be a new state-of-the-art facility that is 63,000 square feet, compared to the current 9,000 square foot facility, it's an upgrade Stabler says wouldn't be possible without so many hardworking people.

"I guess the message is, it can be done, there's a way to make this work, you just have to dig in and do it, and I'm so proud of our people," she said.

The facility will have space for primary care and lab testing, as well as a pharmacy.

There will also be a diabetes department with a full-time dietician, and many other providers.

"A really nice state-of-the-art optical department, we are going to expand our dental services, we will have physical therapy," said board member Cindra Shangreau.

Shangreau says there will be even space for the clinic to grow and while the past has been pivotal in opening the clinic, they are thinking of the future.

"We know that even in our lifetime here we've expanded our healthcare so much so that we've outgrown where we are today, and listening to what our forefathers have brought to us, and how we want to take care and look seven generations into the future," she said.

The new clinic is expected to be complete by the summer of 2025.