Haskell agreement clears path for new campus health clinic

A new health clinic is now possible on the Haskell Indian Nations University campus, a move that could keep Native patients from losing access during construction while also creating a training site for future health workers in Lawrence.

The federal agreement announced June 3 allowed the Indian Health Service to build a modern clinic on 4.4 acres of Haskell land. Health care services would continue without interruption while the project moves ahead, and the current Haskell Indian Health Center at 2415 Massachusetts St. is expected to return to Haskell for academic and workforce training use after the new facility is finished.

That matters in Douglas County because the Haskell Indian Health Center is already a busy access point. The accredited ambulatory facility opened in 1978 on the edge of Haskell, next to Haskell Indian Nations University and near the University of Kansas community of Lawrence. The Indian Health Service says its patient population grows with the Haskell and KU school year, adding pressure to a clinic that currently provides medical care, dental care, laboratory work, pharmacy, pediatric care, diabetes prevention and testing, and health education and nutrition.

The new building is being framed as more than a facilities upgrade. It would give Haskell students interested in health careers a place to gain firsthand clinical experience, while also supporting Haskell’s College of Education and Health Sciences, which oversees the Program of Health, Sport, and Exercise Science. That fits with Haskell’s broader role as a federally funded higher education institution serving Native American and Alaska Native students from across the country.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the expansion represented a practical investment in Indian Country’s future, underscoring the project’s importance beyond Lawrence. The agreement also fits a wider pattern of Haskell-KU collaboration on Native student training and research, including programs that help students move toward biomedical, bioengineering, behavioral and environmental health fields.

The announcement left some key details unresolved. The release did not say exactly where on campus the clinic would be built or when construction would begin, and Shannon Lowe, the chief executive of the Haskell Indian Health Center, said she needed federal approval before saying more.

For now, the practical effect is clear: care at 2415 Massachusetts St. will keep running while the federal government and Haskell prepare a project that could expand access, strengthen training, and deepen Native health capacity on the north side of Lawrence.