1959 Business Committee Resolutions
Author/Creator
Citizen Band Potawatomi
Author/Creator
Citizen Band Potawatomi Indian Tribe of Oklahoma
Date1959
MediumPaper (onion skin)
ClassificationsArchive
Object numberBC.BCR.1959
Description1959 BUSINESS COMMITTEE RESOLUTIONA RESOLUTION TO REQUEST THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A USPH GENERAL HOSPITAL AT THE UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DIVISION OF INDIAN HEALTH HOSPITAL, MORE COMMONLY KNOWN AS SHAWNEE TUBERCULOSIS SANITORIUM, SHAWNEE, OKLAHOMA.
Collections
Finding AidRESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION TO REQUEST THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A USPH GENERAL HOSPITAL AT
THE UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DIVISION OF INDIAN HEALTH HOSPITAL,
MORE COMMONLY KNOWN AS SHAWNEE TUBERCULOSIS SANITORIUM, SHAWNEE,
OKLAHOMA.
WHEREAS: The Sac and Fox Tribe of Oklahoma, the Citizens Band of Pottawatomie Tribe
of Oklahoma, the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma,
and the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma have met together in an inter-tribal meeting for the
purpose of determining the need for the United States Public Health Service, Division
of Indian Health Hospital, better known as the Shawnee Tuberculosis Sanitorium,
located at Shawnee, Oklahoma, to be converted into a general hospital for all the
Indians located in the central and south central part of Oklahoma and any other area
in which there are no general hospital facilities available to the Indians within a
reasonable commuting distance and where adequate public transportation is available,
and
WHEREAS: The desires of the five above mentioned tribes have been expressed to the
effect that there is a definite need for a general hospital at this location which
would be utilized by portions of the Choctaw, Seminole, Creek and Chickasaw Tribes
as well as the tribe passing this Resolution, and
WHEREAS: Statistics show that the out-patient clinic at the Shawnee Hospital has
increased 400% in five years and during the month of January 1959, 805 out-patients
went through this clinic. These patients were handled in a three hour period three
days, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, of each week which gives an indication that the
load would be much heavier in the out-patient clinic was open eight hours a day five
days a week, and
WHEREAS, The Public Health Service Hospital records show that the in-patient load
at the Lawton General Hospital has [sic] for the first half of Fiscal Year
1959 as compared to the following year for fiscal year 195[sic] and the latest reports are
that some of the patients in the Lawton General Hospital are in beds in the halls
because of the heavy in-patient load. For the month of January 1959, the budgeted
bed capacity was 56 whereas an operating bed capacity was up to 80. This is indica-
tive that the need for another general hospital is definitely acute, and
WHEREAS: It is known that an undetermined number of Indian people who need hospital
care do not make use of the existing hospitals because of poor transportation
connections and the long distances from home which removes them from visitations
by their families and because the adults are hesitant to leave their children at
distant points and few can afford to stay at the location of the hospital, and
WHEREAS: There is an area in central and south central Oklahoma that is not served
by a general hospital for the Indians and this area includes all of the original
reservations of the Sac and Fox Tribe of Oklahoma, the Citizens Band of Pottawatomie
Tribe of Oklahoma, the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, the Kickapoo Tribe of
Oklahoma, the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Oklahoma, and portions
of the Choctaw, Creek, and Chickasaw Nations, and
RESOLUTION - CONTINUED
WHEREAS: The Standard of Indian health in this general area continues to be below
average and it is the opinion of this group that it is the responsibility of the
Government to bring the Indian health status up to par with the average public in
this area and therefore the conversion of the Shawnee Tuberculosis Sanitorium to a
USPH General Hospital would definitely facilitate the improvement of the health of
the Indians in this area.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That inasmuch as there is a definite need for a General
Hospital to serve the aforesaid tribes in the area indicated, it is requested that
the existing facilities of that hospital be converted to the use as a General Hospital.
PASSED AND APPROVED THIS 3rd DAY OF MARCH, 1959
STATE OF OKLAHOMA )
SS
POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY )
We, the undersigned, do hereby certify that the above Resolution to be a true
and exact copy as approved at a meeting of a committee duly appointed at an inter-
tribal meeting held on February 27, 1959, of the five tribes located under the juris-
diction of the Shawnee Area Field Office, for the purpose of requesting a USPH
General Hospital to be located at Shawnee, Oklahoma.
A. B. Peacore, Representative
Citizens Band of Pottawatomie Tribe of Oklahoma
Paul Whits, Representative
Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma
Arthur Rolette, Representative
Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma
Rex Whistler, Representative
Sac & Fox Tribe of Oklahoma
Bernard Heer, Representative
Citizens Band of Pottawatomie Tribe of Oklahoma
James O. Stevens, Representative
Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma