TAHLEQUAH, Okla — The Cherokee Nation has proposed investing $30 million in a satellite nursing school in Tahlequah through a partnership with the University of Oklahoma.
Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. with the Cherokee Nation said he wants to help Cherokee Nation citizens pursue their goals of entering the medical field.
WATCH: Cherokee Nation hoping to invest $30M in a new satellite nursing school with OU:
According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the United States is projected to face a shortage of registered nurses, particularly as the population ages and healthcare needs increase.
“It is part of our goal to build a world-class system of wellness for the Cherokee people," he said. "You really can't do that unless you maximize opportunities for the Cherokee people to take care of the Cherokee people and other natives in our reservation.”
To help incoming students establish themselves, Chief Hoskin wants to make sure he can provide Cherokee Nation members with the tools they need to succeed by also investing into scholarships.
“We need to inspire the young generation, particularly coming up to be the doctors and nurses of tomorrow and a range of other fields that they may find their way through college or a career tech," he said.
This isn’t the first time the Cherokee Nation has partnered with an Oklahoma university to create more education and job opportunities.
In fact, Chief Hoskin hopes the OU satellite campus will be just walking distance away from the nation’s OSU satellite campus of osteopathic medicine.
The Cherokee nation plans to move out of its current Hastings Hospital facility into its new hospital mid 2026.
If everything is approved, they hope to remodel the Hastings building into its new OU satellite campus and turn it into the “Cherokee Nation Nursing and Allied Health Education Center” and open it in the fall of 2027.
Chief Hoskin said he hopes to expand further moving forward.
“I'm convinced that as time goes by, if we keep this strategy up and keep investing in healthcare, there'll be a tremendous number of more important, very important partnerships in the future," he said. "I'm very excited about the future."
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