Sen. Sinema Meets with Indian Health Service Leader

Published December 9, 2019

WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema met with Rear Admiral Michael Weahkee, Principal Deputy Director of Indian Health Service, to discuss how his agency can better support Arizona’s tribal communities.

“I’m partnering with tribal communities in Arizona to ensure the federal government makes good on its promise to provide critical health services to all Native Americans,” said Sinema.

Sinema is working to secure reauthorization of the Special Diabetes Program for Indians, which provides programs that design and implement diabetes interventions in tribal communities. Earlier this year, Sinema wrote to the Secretary of Health and Human Services regarding the government shutdown’s impact on Indian Health Service programs that provide critical health services to the 22 federally-recognized Native American tribes in Arizona.

Indian Health Service is the principal federal health care advocate and provider of health care services for American Indians and Alaska Natives. As Principal Deputy Director, Real Admiral Weahkee administers a health care delivery program responsible for providing preventative, curative, and community health care for approximately 2.2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives in hospitals, clinics, and other settings throughout the country.

Rear Admiral Weahkee previously served as CEO of the Phoenix Indian Medical Center, the largest federally operated facility in the Indian Health Service.