The Facilities

Two satellite facilities are operational: the San Xavier Health Center, a large outpatient facility on the outskirts of Tucson, and the Santa Rosa Clinic, a small outpatient facility located in the very rural setting of the north-central sector of the Tohono O'odham Reservation. The Tohono O'odham Reservation is in the process of constructing a health care facility on the western end of the reservation adjacent to the community of San Simon. It is anticipated that the facility will be operational in fiscal year 2005.

A professional staff of physicians, physician assistants, dentists, nurses, podiatrists, optometrists, and auxiliary technical support personnel administer both inpatient and ambulatory services through the hospital and clinics. Specialties among the medical staff include internal medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, and family practice. Some emergency services are provided at the Sells Hospital; critical-care patients are transferred to one of several Tucson or Phoenix area hospitals.

Hospital admissions approximate 1,000 patients annually with 250-300 deliveries being performed through contracts with Tucson facilities. Exclusive of dental visits, ambulatory visits number approximately 90,000 per year. The Hospital employs a computerized database to enhance its research and diagnostic efforts to serve patients in all three facilities.

As a group, the Tohono O'odham have one of the highest occurrences of Type II Diabetes in the world. The study, treatment, and prevention of diabetes is a major concern. Diabetes Prevention Projects are in place in the schools and community, a collaborative effort of IHS and the Tohono O'odham Health Department. The programs, including several rural field units, are geared toward educating in methods of coping with and preventing the disease.