Constructed in 1917, the first Talihina Indian Hospital was established to care for members of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations suffering from tuberculosis. As one of the earliest healthcare facilities in the United States built specifically for Native populations, its founding and growth reflect major shifts in federal Indian health policy.
The original sanatorium was a modest wood-frame structure dedicated solely to treating tuberculosis patients. As the need for expanded services grew, the campus evolved to include a superintendent’s cottage, employee housing, a commissary, a school, and a fully functional farm featuring a dairy barn, hog and cow sheds, a poultry house, and storage facilities for hay and feed.
In 1937, construction began on a new, larger hospital complex designed by the Chicago architectural firm Schmidt, Garden, and Erickson. Building 201, commonly called the “Old Hospital”, was constructed with labor provided by local Choctaw citizens and building materials from Buffalo Mountain as part of a Works Progress Program (WPA) project. Additional buildings (202, 203, 204, 205, and 218) and drainage infrastructure were also built under this initiative. The WPA, a New Deal agency which employed local workers while investing in public infrastructure.
When the new hospital opened in 1938, it featured 225 beds, 150 beds for tuberculosis patients and 75 general patients from the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations at a cost of $1,000,000. In 1985, under the Indian Self-Determination Act, the Choctaw Nation (CNO) assumed facility management, making CNO one of the first tribes to contract complete hospital administration from the Indian Health Service (IHS), marking a significant step in tribal self-governance in healthcare.
Today, the campus comprises 26 buildings, most of which date from the mid-1930s onward. Although Building 201 now sits vacant, its historical and architectural significance endures. In 2023, the Choctaw Nation was awarded an EPA Multipurpose Grant to address environmental hazards stemming from pre-1978 building materials in preparation for this important cultural site’s potential reuse or preservation.