Skip to site content
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Great Plains Area

OEHE Division of Facilities Management

The Great Plains Area Indian Health Service (AAIHS) operates a comprehensive health delivery system for approximately 115,000 Indian people residing in South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa. The comprehensive health delivery system provides preventive, curative, rehabilitative, reparative, restorative, environmental, and inpatient health services. Nineteen Indian Tribes reside in the four state area of the AAIHS.

Comprehensive health services are provided through sixteen Federally operated Service Units and seven Tribal Service Units with the following facilities: Seven IHS hospitals, nine IHS health centers, one Youth treatment center, and seven Tribal compounds . IHS facilities have a total of 118 buildings with 1.2 million gross square footage (GSF) and 391 total staff quarters units.

The mission of the Great Plains Area Division of Facilities Management is to support the delivery of health care and preventative services to American Indians in the Great Plains Area and to safeguard interests in property. Without functional health care facilities, the efficient and effective delivery of preventative and curative services is not possible. The specific goal of the program is to ensure the optimum availability of functional, well maintained health care facilities and staff housing.

The Division of Facilities Management supports the operation of healthcare facilities to accomplish its ultimate goal: the delivery of health care. This Division is involved in the maintenance, repair, improvement, and augmentation of space to include:

  • Physical plant (buildings)
  • Utility Systems (exterior and interior)
  • Clinical Equipment (medical and often non-medical)
  • Grounds, Roads, and Parking Lots
  • Building Service Equipment Systems
  • Minimization of life-cycle costs through effective preventive maintenance
  • Planning, designing & constructing facility improvements to existing facilities
  • Construction of additional space to complement services
  • Targeting the unmet need with limited resources for maximum effectiveness
  • Ensuring that energy consumption is minimized through engineering design and responsible operation of building systems
  • Assessment of structure, utilities, and equipment
  • Design of drawings and specifications for repairs and improvements
  • Troubleshooting major component and system failures

The organization of these engineering related services contribute to the provision of a good physical environment for healing and patient care.