ADA, Okla. – Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby said the opening of the Carl Albert Service Center launches a new era in a long tradition of service at the renovated building’s ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday, Nov. 17.
Gov. Anoatubby was joined by several tribal, community and state officials to dedicate the Carl Albert Service Center, located at 1001 N. Country Club Road.
“A new chapter begins today with the rebirth of this facility as the Carl Albert Service Center,” Gov. Anoatubby said. “The words ‘Service Center’ declare the building’s purpose – to serve Chickasaw Nation citizens, our employees and the community. It stands as a symbol for our continued commitment to enhance the overall quality of life of Chickasaw people and to make a positive impact on the community.”
The 127,260 square-foot building opened in 1980 as the Carl Albert Indian Health Facility and served thousands of Chickasaw and Native American patients until the opening of the Chickasaw Medical Center in 2010.
“Rarely is a place with so much history of service given a new lease. And this building made a lot of history over the years in its time as the Carl Albert Indian Health Facility,” Gov. Anoatubby said.
The completely renovated building will help Chickasaw Nation citizens and employees with education, training and career development.
The building will house employment programs such as School to Work, which helps Chickasaw citizens gain on-the-job training while pursuing higher education, and the Career Development Initiative, which helps Chickasaw citizens develop résumés and interview skills.
It will also provide a location for employee training and leadership development courses as well as new-hire orientation.
The facility has 191 offices, 10 state-of-the-art conference rooms, two computer labs, a large assembly hall that can be partitioned into two orientation rooms and a large training area. A new Bedré Café is also located in the building.
Each orientation room has a large projector screen and two television displays for Telepresence connection with Winstar World Resort and Riverwind Casino.
The Chickasaw Nation WIC Supplemental Nutrition Program will continue operating out of the facility. The WIC program provides pregnant or postpartum women, infants and children in the community with nutritious foods.
Other Chickasaw Nation departments including Benefits, Legal, Organizational Planning and Support, Compensation, Self Determination, Administrative Services and Interior Services will be housed at the new facility.
The building will house about 225 employees and host approximately 300 visitors per day.
Twenty-seven new employment positions have been added with the opening of the new building.
Carl Albert Indian Health Facility History
In 1973 Indian Health Services announced that a new Indian hospital would be built in central Oklahoma.
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Carl Albert worked to get congress to approve a $4.5 million appropriation bill to begin construction.
Ada Trust Authority donated 15 acres of land for construction and the firm of Neal McCaleb, a Chickasaw and Oklahoma legislator, was awarded the architectural contract.
Groundbreaking ceremonies were conducted January 1978 and the Carl Albert Indian Health Facility opened June 14, 1980.
By 2009, the Carl Albert Indian Health Facility served more than 300,000 patients per year.