Indian Health Service

Behavioral Health Resources in Indian Health Service

Job search support is provided for the following behavioral health disciplines:

• Licensed Clinical Social Worker
• Licensed Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor
• Behavioral Health Therapist
• Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant
• Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
• Psychiatrist
• Clinical Psychologist

Incentive programs for behavioral health professionals:

• IHS Scholarship Programs

3RNET has resources from across the nation to support behavioral health professionals and people interested in pursuing a behavioral health career. View 3RNET’s behavioral health professionals’ resources here.

Job Resources for Indian Health Service

We’re here to help. 3RNET has several resources for health professionals searching for a job:

• 3RNET’s Loan Repayment Program Guide
• 3RNET’s Guide on Health Professional Shortage Areas
• 3RNET’s Guide to Navigating the J-1 Waiver Job Search
• 3RNET’s Guide to Safety Net Health Care Facilities

Indian Health Service-specific job resources for health care professionals:

• Indian Health Service Jobs
• Indian Health Service Career Paths
• Indian Health Service Health Professions
• Indian Health Service Scholarship Program
• Indian Health Service Loan Repayment

About Working for Indian Health Service

The Indian Health Service (IHS), an agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), works to ensure that all American Indian and Alaska Native people receive comprehensive health care services and all Indian health facilities are staffed with well-trained, compassionate, and committed health care professionals. 

IHS offers extraordinary career opportunities that provide comprehensive, patient-centered care in a variety of disciplines and health care facility settings. An Indian health career offers dedicated practitioners a chance to live and work within Native communities, providing a unique opportunity to learn about the heritage of the Tribe, discover the traditions that have been handed down for generations and gain cultural insight into Native beliefs and values.

IHS is seeking health care professionals; physicians, pharmacists, dentists, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, behavioral health providers and more. We offer a choice of three options for health professionals to practice their specific discipline: working as a federal civil service employee, as an Officer in the Commissioned Corps of the US Public Health Service (USPHS) or directly for a Tribal or Urban Indian program. Each career option offers career flexibility, competitive salaries and benefits and ample opportunity for advancement. Applicants must be US citizens.

IHS also provides for the education, recruitment and retention of health care professionals through the IHS Scholarship Program, the IHS Extern Program and the IHS Loan Repayment Program (LRP). IHS has openings available nationwide right now.

Alaska Area

The Alaska Area of the Indian Health Service (IHS) works in conjunction with Alaska Native Tribes and Tribal Organizations (T/TO) to provide comprehensive health services to nearly 175,000 Alaska Natives (Eskimos, Aleuts and Indians). The Alaska Tribal Health Compact is a comprehensive system of health care that serves all 228 federally recognized Tribes in Alaska. IHS-funded, tribally-managed hospitals are located in Anchorage, Barrow, Bethel, Dillingham, Kotzebue, Nome and Sitka. There are 58 Tribal health centers, 160 Tribal community health aide clinics and five residential substance abuse treatment centers. The Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage is the statewide referral center and gatekeeper for specialty care. Other health promotion/disease prevention programs that are statewide in scope are operated by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC), which is managed by representatives of all Alaska Tribes. 

There are 36 residual, transitional residual and buy-back positions in the Alaska Area IHS, performing inherently federal functions that cannot be contracted to T/TOs. The Alaska Area supports US Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps officers and civil service employees to T/TOs to aid them in the provision of health services. Other federal agencies such as the Arctic Investigations Laboratory of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) work closely with the Alaska Area IHS and the Tribes to improve the health status of Alaska Natives. 

The Indian Health Service still holds title to six Tribally operated hospitals and three Tribally operated health centers in Alaska and is responsible for their maintenance.

• Alaska Area web page

Albuquerque Area

Headquartered in Albuquerque, NM, the Indian Health Service (IHS) Albuquerque Area serves more than 84,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Tribes of the Albuquerque Area include 20 Pueblos, two Apache bands, three bands of the Navajo Nation and two Ute Tribes, across four Southwest states to include New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, and Utah. Each Tribe is culturally distinct with its own sovereign government, relationships and cultural identity. Respecting the sovereignty of each Tribe is of critical importance in providing health and prevention services in the Albuquerque Area.

The Albuquerque Area delivers care through five hospitals, 11 health centers and 12 field clinics that are administratively divided into 10 Service Units. Two urban health centers also deliver care to patients in Albuquerque and Denver. The New Sunrise Regional Treatment Center provides residential treatment services for Native youth with substance abuse problems. And the Albuquerque Indian Dental Clinic provides dental services for children, teens and young adults. Tribal members who live, work or go to school in the urban centers of the Area also have access to IHS-operated health facilities.

As you search for the right opportunity, we will help you investigate an Indian health career option before you make this major life decision. If professional fulfillment, quality of life and providing service to a highly appreciative community are important to your career plans, then consider joining the dedicated public health professionals in the federal, Tribal and Urban Indian health programs of the Albuquerque Area IHS. We offer opportunities to work in an integrated health care system on a multidisciplinary team that puts our patients first while earning a competitive salary and exceptional benefits. Best of all, you will be working with patients who are greatly appreciative of your services.

• Albuquerque Area brochure
• Albuequerque Area web page

Bemidji Area

Health professionals living and working in the Bemidji Area will find themselves surrounded by thousands of lakes, natural forests, state parks, nature preserves and abundant wildlife. Combined, these spectacular features offer loads of opportunities for recreational pursuits within the five-state Area. No wonder Bemidji is considered a Sportsman’s Paradise.

With a patient population of more than 110,500, the Bemidji Area provides clinical service and support to 34 federally recognized Tribes and four Urban Indian Programs in Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. The Bemidji Area Office operates three direct service programs at Cass Lake Hospital (Cass Lake, MN), Red Lake Hospital (Red Lake, MN) and White Earth Health Center (Ogema, MN).

The Bemidji Area values commitment to patients and employees, customer service and Tribal consultation. The growth of community-based services results from Tribes becoming more involved with the management of their health care, which is particularly important in the Bemidji Area as many Tribal members are geographically isolated from towns and community centers where health care is available.

• Bemidji Area brochure
• Bemidji Area web page

Billings Area

The Billings Area Indian Health Service (IHS) provides health care services to more than 70,000 American Indian and Alaska Native people in Montana and Wyoming. These services are delivered through six IHS-operated Service Units, three Tribally operated health departments and four Urban Indian Programs.

The Billings Area is committed to building strong partnerships with local Tribal governments, Tribal communities and Native Americans. Often working through formal consultation processes coordinated by the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council and meetings with Tribal Councils and Tribal Leaders at the local level, the Billings Area strives to improve the health status of its patients alongside the Governing Boards responsible for the operations of each of its health care facilities.
While each health care facility is unique, all Billings Area facilities are either accredited through the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations or the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care. They also meet the Conditions of Participation by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The dedicated staff of the Billings Area strive daily to improve the quality of health care delivery, through its Service Units comprised of hospitals and clinics, preventive health and outreach services, alcohol treatment centers, dental and eye care facilities and air and ground emergency transportation. Supporting the staff efforts, the Billings Area Leadership is accessible and responsive to those it serves, the Tribal Leaders and collaborating health care partners.

• Billings Area brochure
• Billings Area web page

California Area

There are currently 31 California Tribal health programs operating 57 ambulatory clinics under the authority of the Indian Self-Determination Act. IHS funds eight Urban Indian health programs that operate under the authority of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA). 

None of the Tribal facilities and programs currently operating in California originated as facilities previously operated by the IHS, as is the case in other IHS Areas. Population sizes and dispersion of Tribal groups in the California area make it unlikely that a hospital-based service program will develop within the area, similar to other IHS Areas where the federal government has built, staffed and maintained hospitals and satellite clinics on Indian reservations.

Tribal programs will continue to rely on private and public hospitals to meet inpatient and emergency needs.

• California Area web page

Great Plains Area

The Indian Health Service (IHS) Great Plains Area, headquartered in Aberdeen, SD, provides health services to approximately 130,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa. An agency of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), IHS offers health care professionals an unparalleled opportunity to provide comprehensive, patient-centered care in a variety of disciplines and settings.

The Area’s 23 IHS and Tribally managed Service Units include hospitals, health centers, health stations and satellite clinics that provide inpatient and outpatient care, including preventive and curative health care services.

The facilities’ approximately 2,600 employees include 134 Physicians, more than 500 Registered Nurses, 42 Nurse Practitioners, 31 Physician Assistants, 21 Psychologists, 22 Social Workers, 103 Pharmacists, 15 Optometrists, 42 Dentists and a host of other health professionals. The Area operates an active research effort through its Epidemiology Program. Research projects deal with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and the application of health risk appraisals in all communities.

The Great Plains’ vast prairies and abundant waterways are home to 16 Tribal reservations: Eight in South Dakota, four in North Dakota, three in Nebraska and one in Iowa. Three facilities serve Indian populations living outside of reservations; these are in Rapid City, SD; Trenton, ND; and Norfolk, NE.

• Great Plains Area brochure
• Great Plains Area web page

Nashville Area

The Nashville Area Indian Health Service (IHS) serves 29 Tribes or nations with 16 Tribally administered programs (Title I contracted), nine Tribally administered programs (Title V compacted), four federal Service Unit programs and three Urban Indian Programs. While these Tribes and nations are dispersed across 14 states, in all, the Nashville Area provides care to a total of 24 states in the eastern and southern United States.

Because the Nashville Area is the most geographically and culturally diverse Area within IHS, Nashville staff face unique challenges that require the use of creativity and flexibility. Many health clinics are open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and rely on a combination of long-distance communication, on-site meetings, conferences, site visits, trainings and Tribal consultation sessions.

The Nashville Area office is proud to administer Project TransAm, a source of medical equipment available for reutilization to IHS and Tribes running IHS programs. In the last 10 years, the program has distributed $33 million worth of medical equipment and supplies to Tribes across the country from the US Department of Defense (DOD), Veterans Affairs (VA) and other federal sources.

The leadership and staff of the Nashville Area are dedicated to protecting and elevating the health status of the American Indian people they serve by consistently providing an efficient, collaborative system of medically appropriate, preventive, therapeutic, consultative and educational activities. This system, which advocates and enhances self-determination, is tailored to the unique cultures and diverse needs of each Tribe, and is delivered through qualified health care administrators and service providers.

• Nashville Area brochure
• Nashville Area web page

Navajo Area

As one of the largest Indian reservations in the United States, the Navajo Nation consists of more than 25,000 contiguous square miles and three satellite communities, extending into portions of the states of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

The Navajo Area Indian Health Service (NAIHS) delivers health care services to a population of more than 244,000 American Indians. While the Navajo Area of IHS is primarily responsible for the delivery of health care to members of the Navajo Nation and Southern Band of San Juan Paiutes, they also serve members of the Zuni and Hopi Tribes.

NAIHS ensures access to quality and culturally acceptable health care through inpatient and outpatient care and community health programs centered around six hospitals, eight health centers and a number of health stations. The Area also provides health care through an Urban Indian Program and five Tribal health care corporations.

• Navajo Area brochure
• Navajo Area web page

Oklahoma City Area

The Oklahoma City Area Indian Health Service (IHS) serves the states of Oklahoma, Kansas and portions of Texas. Home to more than 40 Tribes and Tribal Organizations, many Tribes operate their own health programs, including large-scale hospitals, smaller preventive care programs and Behavioral Health programs.

The partnerships and cooperation among the Tribes, IHS federal and Urban Indian Programs is a unique characteristic of the Oklahoma City Area — a collective effort that ensures the health care needs of the Area and its local communities are nurtured and fulfilled. In the Oklahoma City Area, Tribal facilities are viewed as leaders in health care and the provision of care. IHS federal and Tribal programs have developed innovative facilities offering comprehensive health systems for American Indians and Alaska Natives. The Area is also home to Urban Clinics that are Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) that provide ambulatory outpatient health care to urban communities.

The Area benefits from its own Office of Environmental Health and Engineering, which aims to prevent and reduce diseases and injuries among its patient population. In consultation with the Tribes, the Oklahoma City Area Office of Environmental Health and Engineering eliminates health hazards in homes and communities, conducts engineering activities to design and construct water and sewer systems, provides training and technical assistance for the operation and maintenance of sanitation facilities and manages the biomedical engineering support at IHS federal and Tribal health care facilities.

• Oklahoma City Area brochure
• Oklahoma City Area web page

Phoenix Area

The Phoenix Area Indian Health Service (IHS) provides health care and community health services to approximately 170,000 American Indians/Alaska Natives in Arizona, Nevada and Utah. Through eight Service Units, including two Youth Regional Treatment Centers and a network of heath care facilities, the Phoenix Area IHS is a health care partner to more than 40 Tribes.

With more than 2,400 staff, the Phoenix Area’s system of care includes both IHS-operated and Tribally operated health care facilities.

In the Phoenix Area, interdisciplinary teams are the model of practice, and health professionals often interact with many different disciplines in the provision of care. Our services are comprehensive and range from primary care (inpatient and outpatient) to tertiary and specialty care. Dental health, behavioral health, public health nursing, health education and environmental health services are also provided. In addition, three independent Urban Indian Health Program facilities supplement the array of services provided through our Tribal and IHS facilities.

The two Regional Youth Treatment Centers, located in Sacaton, AZ and Wadsworth, NV, are accredited by the Joint Commission on Behavioral Health Standards and operate as one organization providing services in two locations. The Area’s largest health care facility is the Phoenix Indian Medical Center (PIMC), located near downtown Phoenix. This Joint Commission-accredited, 127-bed hospital employs nearly 1,200 clinical and professional staff who provide comprehensive, patient-centered care to both urban and rural Tribal members. In addition, PIMC professional staff travel throughout the tri-state Area to provide direct services, consultation and guidance to other IHS hospitals and health centers.

• Phoenix Area brochure
• Phoenix Area web page

Portland Area

The Portland Area IHS provides health care for an estimated 150,000 American Indian and Alaska Native residents of Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Health delivery services are provided by a mix of health centers, health stations, preventative health programs and Urban Indian Programs.

The Portland Area encompasses a rich and diverse Native culture and meets the needs of a population that requires an equally diverse health care system. Direct service health centers operated by a combination of Tribal facilities, Urban Indian organizations and Area IHS facilities, ensure comprehensive, coordinated care delivery to more than 40 Tribes in the Pacific Northwest.

The Portland Area operates six federal health facilities in five Tribal communities and one at Chemawa Indian School in Salem, OR. There are also three Urban Indian Programs, which offer services ranging from community health to comprehensive primary health care. Overall, Tribes administer more than 74 percent of the IHS Portland Area budget authority appropriation.

In an effort to combat the rising trend of health disparities in the Portland Area, Indian health facilities there place extensive emphasis on improving health outcomes, particularly in the areas of infant health, high-risk maternal and child health, tobacco use intervention, domestic violence, diabetes care, women’s health care and cancer screenings.

In addition, the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board works closely with the Portland Area, operating a variety of health-related programs on behalf of their member Tribes, including the Northwest Tribal Epidemiology Center.

• Portland Area brochure
• Portland Area web page

Tucson Area

The Tucson Area is the smallest of the IHS Areas, serving the Tohono O’odham Nation and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Health services for the Tohono O’odham are centered in Sells, AZ, capital of the Tohono O’odham Reservation and hub of reservation life. Health care in the Sells Service Unit is a joint effort between IHS and the Tohono O’odham Health Department. The Yaqui Service Unit is jointly managed by IHS and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Services are rendered directly and indirectly through a non-traditional, innovative system of subcontracts.

The Tucson Area Sells Service Unit (SSU) operates a Joint Commission-accredited 14-bed hospital in Sells, AZ, and three outpatient health centers on the Tohono O'odham Nation reservation, serving approximately 20,000 patients annually. Health care services for the Pascua Yaqui Tribal members of Pima County are provided through a Tribal Self-Determination Act (PL 93-638 contract) with approximately 7,000 users. They have a combined caseload of approximately 185,000 outpatient visits a year.

This Area’s mission is to provide and sustain the delivery of high-quality health care with skilled, motivated and dedicated Indian Health Service, Tribal and Urban Indian Program care teams. 

The Area continuously improves the health status of American Indian people and communities by ensuring the delivery of high-quality health services, as well as trust, communication, respect, education, involvement and partnering between I/T/U teams and other community stakeholders.

• Tucson Area web page