During a speech at the groundbreaking ceremony, Principal Chief Michell Hicks said that the project provided, “a unique opportunity to create a facility which will serve as a health care and community anchor for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.” Hicks added that the project, “recognizes the need to address the health care challenges of our tribe, and to create a positive wellness environment.”

Also attending the groundbreaking were the nation’s Vice Chief Larry Blythe, Carmaleta Monteith, governing board chair, Terri Henry, chairman of tribal council, David Wolfe, chairman of the tribal health board, and Casey Cooper, CEO of the hospital. In his address, Cooper commented that the investment in health care is an example of the tribe’s long-held values.
“We stand here today because we are dedicated to the health care of this tribe for the next seven generations,” Cooper said. “This morning’s ceremony is yet another illustration of our tribal leadership’s commitment to the future of our tribe.”
CIH will focus on areas such as disease control, primary care, and other services already in high demand. Included in the campus will be inpatient and outpatient services, a laboratory, pharmacy, emergency room and a physical therapy area. Dental and vision clinics will also be located on site, though mores specialized surgical services and deliveries will be available at other nearby facilities.

The new complex will double the size and capacity of the existing tribal hospital, which was completed in the early 1980s, and will allow the Eastern Band to offer additional medical services in-house. The project will also bring departments that are currently forced to work out of onsite trailers back into the main facility, which will feature warm, comfortable and inviting interiors, as well as décor made by local artists.

Design Strategies of Greenville, S.C., completed the design for the new Cherokee Indian Hospital. A series of community meetings were held to gather input on the overall plan.

“The local community including tribal elders, artists, students and enrolled members, as well as physicians and medical professionals, have all played a big role in shaping this new facility,” Hicks said in a statement

The groundbreaking was long awaited, as the project has already spent three years in the planning stage. Construction and engineering firm Robins & Morton of Birmingham, Ala., will lead construction using an Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) approach.

The $75 million facility will be both owned and operated by the Cherokee tribe, which assumed control of community health care in 2002.

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