Hoeven Discusses Efforts to Improve Health Care, Nutrition Services in Indian Country

BISMARCK, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven today joined a meeting hosted by Senator Kevin Cramer at United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) with U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum on efforts to improve health care and nutrition services in tribal communities. Hoeven serves on, and was previously chairman of, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and is the current chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee as well as a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Through these roles, the senator is working to: Address health care workforce shortages in Indian Country. The Indian Health Service (IHS) is currently facing a nearly 30 percent workforce shortage, particularly in rural and remote locations. Accordingly, Hoeven is working to improve the recruitment, training and retention of health care professionals through initiatives like the University of North Dakota’s (UND): Quentin N. Burdick Indian Health Program. Recruitment/Retention of American Indians into Nursing (RAIN) Program. UND was awarded a total of $1.09 million in Fiscal Years (FY) 2024 and 2026 through federal funding Hoeven secured in annual appropriations legislation. Improve tribal nutrition programs . As part of the 2018 Farm Bill, Hoeven led the establishment of the 638 Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) pilot program, which: Serves more than 30 tribes across the U.S., including the Spirit Lake Tribe. Empowers tribes to acquire healthy, traditional foods for their nutrition programs in an effort to improve the wellbeing of tribal members and combat chronic disease. Hoeven is also cosponsoring the Increasing Tribal Input on Nutrition Act of 2025 and helped secure its inclusion in the Senate Farm Bill. The legislation helps prevent disruptions to the FDPIR program by: Giving tribes a greater role in the program’s contracting decisions. Providing direct payments to tribes to purchase food during FDPIR emergency disruptions. Requiring the U.S. Department of Agriculture to designate an emergency contractor to fulfill FDPIR orders within 45 days of supply disruption. “Tribal communities face unique challenges when it comes to improving the health and wellbeing of their members, including in North Dakota. As we see with many of our rural health care providers, staffing shortages are a real hurdle, putting strain on providers and potentially impacting the availability of services. That’s why we’re leveraging the expertise of institutions like UND to strengthen recruitment and retention of health care professionals and meet this need,” said Senator Hoeven . “At the same time, we’ve worked to support greater self-determination for tribes, including over their nutrition programs. We set up a pilot project that gives tribes more access to traditional foods, and now we’re working to improve it, prevent supply disruptions and ensure it works for tribes over the long term.” -###-