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Healthcare History

In the years before healthcare facilities existed on the reservation, Indians had their own methods of treating people. They used a lot of home remedies consisting of roots, herbs, etc. They had medicine men whose healing consisted of sacred rituals. Before there were hospitals in the area, women called midwives helped to deliver the babies born to the large families in our community. In 1916, an old army barrack was moved into Belcourt and renovated into a hospital. This was our first hospital, and it was staffed by one doctor and two nurses. In 1931, a new hospital was built, and the staff moved into the new facility, which was staffed by a new doctor and four new nurses. This new hospital included an operating room for emergency surgeries. The nursing attendants were called "Bluegirls" because of the blue uniforms they wore while on duty. Traveling dentist and eye doctors visited twice a year and stayed on for a month at a time.

In 1955, a new organization was formed called "The Indian Health Service." This was a branch of the Health, Education and Welfare Department (which is now known as the Department of Health and Human Services). In 1966, construction of another new facility was under way. This had a 50 bed capacity. We are presently using this hospital, which has been recently renovated, along with our beautiful new Comprehensive Healthcare Clinic. The construction of the hospital began in January of 1993 and was ready for occupancy in April of 1994. The newly renovated hospital has a 29 bed capacity. We currently have 19 beds on our Medical/Surgical floor, 6 beds for Obstetrics, 4 for Pediatrics, and 6 bassinets for our newborns. The completion of the Turtle Mountain Comprehensive Healthcare Center was a much needed accomplishment. We are very proud of the new hospital and clinic, which offer the latest in modern technology and equipment. After many years of hardships without a hospital, clinic, and physicians, people consider themselves very fortunate to have this type of facility and services available.

The new clinic/hospital employs 215 people, and many positions are still vacant. We have positions for 13 physicians (7 of which are vacant), 8 dentists (2 vacant), 45 nurses (12 vacant), and 134 ancillary personnel (lab, x-ray, Human Services, Community Health Nurses, etc.) with many of our positions still to be filled. Our new Service Unit Director, Mr. Ray Grandbois, joined our staff in October of 1994.

During fiscal year 1993, the Belcourt Service Unit had a total of 1,156 admissions (including those housed at the Presentation Medical Center in Rolla, North Dakota, during the renovation of our hospital). We had a total of 71,751 ambulatory care visits and 17,928 emergency room visits. As you can see, we are a very busy facility.

Our facility provides a lot of contract care for our patients through specialists in Rugby, Grand Forks, Minot, May Clinic, University of Minnesota, and other facilities. We have air ambulance services out of Minot, and we also transport patients by charter flights out of the Rolla airport, which is located seven miles east of the reservation.

We have a full time Optometrist and Audiologist. We have an ENT specialist come in on a monthly basis. We have a surgeon on staff who oversees our Surgery program, including a contract with the University of North Dakota School of Medicine in Grand Forks. The University's School of Medicine sends residents specializing in surgery who are here every other month for a four week rotation.

We have clinic appointments daily as well as specialty clinics such as Well Baby Clinic on Monday, Diabetic Clinic on Tuesday, Prenatal Clinic on Wednesday, and Hypertension Clinic on Friday. We also hold Woman's Wellness clinics periodically.

We would enjoy giving a tour to all who might be interested in viewing our new beautiful healthcare facility. We are very proud to have obtained such a modern facility.