...Health care on the Navajo Nation (click here) is provided by many different public health systems that strive to work together, but which have no common oversight. Few understand what services are available across state lines on the reservation or how to access those services, especially as the state systems keep modernizing and changing. However, a comprehensive understanding of these interlinked systems is necessary in order to really assist tribal members....
May 18, 2020
By Hollie Silverman, Konstantin Toropin, Sara Sidner and Leslie Perrot
The Navajo Nation (click here) has surpassed New York and New Jersey for the highest per-capita coronavirus infection rate in the US -- another sign of Covid-19's disproportionate impact on minority communities.
The Navajo Nation, which spans parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, reported a population of 173,667 on the 2010 census. As a result, with 4,002 cases, the Native American territory has 2,304.41 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 people.
By contrast, New York state now has a rate of 1,806 cases per 100,000 and New Jersey is at 1,668 cases per 100,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez told CNN's Sara Sidner of its rate on the "Situation Room" Sunday night....
It is unclear how much PPE and ventilators they have at their health care facilities.
Hospitals: (click here)
The Navajo Area Indian Health Service (IHS) maintains 5 hospitals in "service units": Chinle Comprehensive Health Care Facility, Crownpoint Health Care Facility, Gallup Indian Medical Center, and Northern Navajo Medical Center (Shiprock, NM), totalling 222 hospital beds; and the Kayenta Health Center in Kayenta, AZ, an Alternative Rural Hospital with 10 short stay nursing beds and ambulatory surgery....
