2021 Letters
December 20, 2021
The Acting Deputy Director writes to Urban Indian Organization Leaders to extend the comment period on the American Rescue Plan Act and Build Back Better Act. The new comment period has been extended to January 21, 2022. [PDF - 67 KB]December 3, 2021
The Acting Deputy Director writes to Urban Indian Organization Leaders to initiate Urban Confer to seek input and recommendations for a new 5-year Indian Health Service Office of Urban Indian Health Programs Strategic Plan. [PDF - 230 KB]November 22, 2021
The Acting Deputy Director writes to Urban Indian Organization Leaders to initiate Urban Confer to seek input on additional American Rescue Plan Act, and Build Back Better Act funding. [PDF - 194 KB]November 15, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Tribal Leaders and Urban Indian Organization Leaders to provide updates on the Special Diabetes Program for Indians for fiscal years 2021 and 2022. [PDF - 310 KB]November 4, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Urban Indian Organization Leaders to respond to comments shared during the July 26. 2021, virtual Urban Confer session on the possibility of calculating an All-inclusive Rate for Urban Indian Organizations. [PDF - 152 KB]October 29, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Urban Indian Organization Leaders to share the Indian Health Service fiscal year 2020 Urban Indian Health Budget Report. [PDF - 172 KB]- Enclosure: Office of Urban Indian Health Programs – Fiscal Year 2020 Budget to Support Urban Indian Organizations [PDF - 473 KB]
October 13, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Urban Indian Organization Leaders to initiate Urban Confer to seek input and recommendations on how to improve the process for requesting Federal assistance for medical supplies. [PDF - 375 KB]October 5, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Tribal Leaders and Urban Indian Organization Leaders to provide an update on the Indian Health Service's (IHS) position related to the eligibility of the Seminole Freedmen of the Seminole Nation to receive health services from the IHS or by a Tribal health program or an Urban Indian Organization. [PDF - 342 KB]October 4, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Urban Indian Organization Leaders in follow-up to the virtual Urban Confer on the Urban Indian Organization Infrastructure Study. [PDF - 186 KB]October 4, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Urban Indian Organization Leaders to continue Urban Confer to seek input and recommendations on the draft Indian Health Service Policy on Conferring with Urban Indian Organizations. [PDF - 232 KB]- Enclosure: DRAFT IHM Part 5 Chapter 26 [PDF - 189 KB]
August 13, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Urban Indian Organization Leaders to initiate Urban Confer to seek input and recommendations on mandatory funding approaches at the Indian Health Service. This Urban Confer complements the Tribal Consultation initiated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. [PDF - 234 KB]August 9, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Tribal Leaders and Urban Indian Organization Leaders to provide an update on ongoing Tribal Consultation and Urban Confer concerning modernization of the Health Information Technology infrastructure supported by the Indian Health Service. A link to the Statement of Objectives is included for review and comment. [PDF - 234 KB]July 16, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Urban Indian Organization Leaders to initiate Urban Confer to seek input and recommendations on calculating an All-Inclusive Rate for Urban Indian Organizations (UIOs). [PDF - 247 KB]July 15, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Urban Indian Organization Leaders to announce an Urban Confer session to seek input on developing and implementing an infrastructure study on facilities operated by Urban Indian Organizations. [PDF - 272 KB]July 14, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Tribal Leaders and Urban Indian Organization Leaders to share information about a new incentive program available to eligible United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Officers assigned to Tribal and Urban Indian health programs. [PDF - 216 KB]June 30, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Tribal Leaders and Urban Indian Organization Leaders to request assistance in identifying priority health professions for inclusion into categories eligible for the IHS Scholarship Program in academic year 2022-2023 and the IHS Loan Repayment Program in fiscal year 2022. [PDF - 173 KB]- Enclosure: 2022 Priority Chart – Loan Repayment Program Survey [PDF - 216KB]
- Enclosure: 2022 Priority Chart – Scholarship Program Survey [PDF - 264 KB]
June 22, 2021
UPDATED LETTER: The Acting Director writes to Tribal Leaders and Urban Indian Organization Leaders to announce the allocation decisions for approximately $1.8 billion in resources appropriated to the Indian Health Service in the American Rescue Plan Act, 2021. [PDF - 261 KB]May 26, 2021
The Acting Director invites Tribal Leaders and Urban Indian Organization Leaders to participate in Agency-sponsored Listening Sessions to share information and solicit input on next steps for our ongoing Indian Health Service Health Information Technology Modernization Project.
[PDF - 228 KB]May 14, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Tribal Leaders and Urban Indian Organization Leaders to request your participation in an Electronic Health Record data call.
[PDF - 443 KB]- Enclosure - IHS Congressional Tribal EHR Data Call Template [PDF - 144 KB]
April 27, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Urban Indian Organization Leaders to initiate Urban Confer to seek input and recommendations to improve the Indian Health Service Policy on Conferring with Urban Indian Organizations. [PDF - 366 KB]April 16, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Tribal Leaders and Urban Indian Organization Leaders to announce allocation decisions for approximately $4.3 billion in new resources appropriated to the IHS in the American Rescue Plan Act, 2021. [PDF - 267 KB]April 1, 2021
The Acting Director writes to inform Tribal Leaders and Urban Indian Organization Leaders of the next steps in the Indian Health Service Health Information Technology Modernization initiative. [PDF - 194 KB]March 31, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Urban Indian Organization Leaders to initiate Urban Confer on two Indian Health Service initiatives: (1) the use of $5 million from the Fiscal Year 2021 appropriations that the IHS has allocated to address Alzheimer's disease; and (2) the use of $5 million in funding for Ending the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic: A Plan for America, which was allocated to support work toward the elimination of HIV and hepatitis C in Indian Country. [PDF - 207 KB]March 26, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Tribal Leaders and Urban Indian Organization Leaders to announce an updated allocation of $95 million in telehealth funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. [PDF - 187 KB]March 22, 2021
The Acting Director notifies Urban Indian Organization leaders that on January 3, 2021, Congress amended 25 U.S.C. § 5321(d) to extend Federal Tort Claims Act coverage to Urban Indian Organizations and their employees to the same extent and in the same manner as to Tribes and Tribal Organizations. [PDF - 221 KB]March 8, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Urban Indian Organization Leaders to initiate Urban Confer to seek rapid input regarding the potential allocation of $6 billion currently under consideration by Congress as part of the Administration's American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. [PDF - 249 KB]February 5, 2021
The Acting Director notifies Urban Indian Organization Leaders that the Indian Health Service has extended the comment submission deadline until March 2, 2021, on the Urban Confer initiated to complement the joint Tribal Consultation seeking input on the draft revised memorandum of understanding between the Indian Health Service and Veterans Health Administration and provides information for an upcoming Virtual Listening Session scheduled for February 17, 2021. [PDF - 171 KB]February 2, 2021
The Acting Director writes to Tribal Leaders and Urban Indian Organization Leaders to announce the allocation decisions for the $210 million in new resources transferred from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Indian Health Service to support COVID-19 vaccine related activities in American Indian and Alaska Native communities authorized by the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. [PDF - 312 KB]January 19, 2021
RADM Weahkee sends a farewell letter to Tribal Leaders and Urban Indian Organization Leaders. [PDF - 167 KB]January 15, 2021
The Director writes to Urban Indian Organization Leaders about the Indian Health Service Urban Emergency Fund. [PDF - 184 KB]The Director informs Urban Indian Organization Leaders of the distribution decision by the Indian Health Service on the fiscal year 2021 Urban Indian Health funding increase. [PDF - 69 KB]
The Director writes to Tribal Leaders and Urban Indian Organization Leaders to announce the allocation decisions for $790 million in new resources transferred from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund to the Indian Health Service to support COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, containment, mitigation, and related activities for monitoring and suppressing COVID-19 in American Indian and Alaska Native communities, authorized by the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, Pub. L. No. 116-260, Div. M, Title III. [PDF - 227 KB]
