New clinic expands health care in New Lands
A hexagon-shaped ceiling greets patients at the front entrance of the Nahata’Dziil Health Center in Sanders, Ariz., on Friday. (Times photo - Donovan Quintero)
A hexagon-shaped ceiling greets patients at the front entrance of the Nahata’Dziil Health Center in Sanders, Ariz., on Friday. (Times photo – Donovan Quintero)
NAHATA DZIIL, Ariz.
Nahata’Dziil Health Center staffers talk amongst one another on Friday in Sanders, Ariz. (Times photo – Donovan Quintero)
Walking into the Nahata ’Dziil Health Center gives you a completely different feel than what it was nearly two years ago – a warehouse.
Now, the state-of-the-art health clinic is filled with faux wooden floors, a medical laboratory, and various health departments ranging from nursing, dental, physical therapy and pharmacy for the several Navajo communities in and around here.
According to Marlene Eriacho, clinical administrator for the Nahata ‘Dziil Health Center, the Fort Defiance Indian Health Board allocated $4.5 million for the facility, which serves Navajo communities along the Interstate 40 corridor from Navajo, Ariz., to Lupton, Ariz.
“We are definitely not what we used to be,” Eriacho said, adding that the 30,000 square feet health clinic is able to cater to a growing patient base.
“I would encourage those people to come back to our area,” Eriacho added, explaining that her concern is for patients in the Klagetoh and Wide Ruins areas, who may have been impacted by the lawsuit between Sage Memorial Hospital and Indian Health Service.
[ph snippet=3]
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow