June 3, 2025
A Visit From an Old Enemy: How a Long-Forgotten Virus Is Testing Tribal Immunity in the Great Plains
*Article Originally Published in the May issue of the Great Plains Tribal Health Magazine Measles was pronounced “eliminated” in the United States twenty-five years ago. Yet immunity gaps on the Northern Plains have welcomed the virus back, threatening elders, disrupting clinics, ...
May 28, 2025
EMERGENCY HEALTH ALERT: MEASLES SPREADS RAPIDLY—TRIBAL COMMUNITIES AT RISK
The Great Plains Tribal Epidemiology Center is issuing an urgent public health alert warning of a looming measles outbreak across the Great Plains region and its tribal reservations. Recent surveillance (May 6–11, 2025) has documented major clusters in the TX/NM/OK/KS ...
April 29, 2025
HERO Conference Champions Resilience and Holistic Healing for Youth
More than 175 youth from across the region gathered at the DoubleTree Hotel in Rapid City on April 24 for the HERO Conference (He Sapa Ensuring Resiliency in our Oyate), an annual event hosted by the Great Plains Tribal Leaders ...
Tags: Oyate Health Center
March 21, 2025
A Groundbreaking Indigenous Doula Workshop in Rapid City
On March 28, 2025, the DoubleTree Hotel in Rapid City, SD, became the venue for a historic event – the first Indigenous Doula Workshop held in South Dakota. Organized by the Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board, the Great Plains ...
Tags: Oyate Health Center
March 21, 2025
Collaboration Brings Testing to the People
Approximately 140 community members participated in a testing event that celebrated National Native American HIV Awareness Day yesterday at the Oyate Center in Rapid City’s Lakota Homes neighborhood. “The community really shows up for these events and each year that ...
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March 3, 2025
Rapid City, SD (March 3, 2025) – The Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board (GPTLHB) proudly congratulates Chairwoman Janet Alkire of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on being honored as one of USA Today’s Women of the Year. This prestigious ...
March 2, 2025
In a hushed chamber on Capitol Hill, tribal leaders from across the Great Plains delivered a searing message to members of the House Appropriations Committee’s Criminal Justice and Safety Subcommittee. Their testimony—raw, impassioned, and unflinching—painted a portrait of decades of ...
Tags: Oyate Health Center
January 29, 2025
Open House to Celebrates New Optical Services with Lakota Artist Jim Yellowhawk
Join us on Saturday, February 8th, from 10 AM to 4 PM for an open house at the Oyate Health Center Optical to honor the launch of eyewear frames featuring ledger art by Jim Yellowhawk and introduce exciting updates coming to ...
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January 14, 2025
Great Plains Epidemiology Center’s Dr. Meghan O’Connell Receives Prestigious HIMSS Changemaker Award
RAPID CITY, SD – The Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board is thrilled to announce that Dr. Meghan O’Connell, MD, MPH (Cherokee), Lead Epidemiologist for the Great Plains Tribal Epidemiology Center, has been named a 2025 recipient of the esteemed ...
January 12, 2025
Health Board Responds to Loss with Compassion and Support
RAPID CITY –The Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board is deeply saddened to announce the sudden loss of an Oyate Health Center family member. This valued team member was a core member of our pharmacy team. This tragic loss occurred ...
Tags: Oyate Health Center
