Program areas at SIHB
The Seattle Indian Health Board is a non-for-profit organization that has been in operation since 1970. Sihb provides vital community Health and public Health services for all people in a native way. In 2016, sihb established our indigenous knowledge informed system of care (indigiknow), to honor our history and to carry us into the future. Indigiknow emphasizes 5 key components of our organization: Health & human services, workforce development, policy & advocacy, and public Health. All are centered on traditional medicine. (continued in schedule o)sihb's Health and human services division (hhs) is deemed an urban Indian Health organization and part of the Indian Health service system of care, we are also a 330 hrsa funded federally qualified Health center. We operate a 340b pharmacy at 3 different locations. Our hhs teams have worked hard to implement indigiknow, the first integrated model of its kind, where our relatives (patients) receive truly holistic care, centered on traditional Indian medicine. There is no other Health system where relatives are served in this culturally specific way. The care teams consist of a primary care provider, nurse care manager, medical assistants, a clinical pharmacist, nutritionist, traditional Indian medicine apprentice, care coordinator, and a clinical social worker. Soon to add a dentist to each care team. The care teams can access specialty services either through internal (traditional medicine practitioners, podiatrist, pediatrician, behavioral Health provider, nutritionist, lactation consulting, addiction medicine) or external referrals. Sihb offers indigiknow at 3 clinic sites and one mobile site, with a 92-bed residential treatment facility on the way. Sihb serves a diverse range of individuals and families through multiple sites around king county. The clinics provide Health services to more than 6000 patients per year through nearly 30,000 encounters.
Sihb's urban Indian Health institute (uihi) is one of 12 tribal epidemiology centers in the nation and the only one that holds a national scope because we serve all of the urban Indian programs across the country. Uihi is deemed a public Health authority through the Indian Health care improvement act and permanently reauthorized in the affordable care act. This ensures our ability to decolonize data, to tell our stories from an indigenous perspective. Through data, epidemiology, evaluation and indigenous focused public Health response strategies. Sihb's public Health team has been nationally recognized as experts in our field.