Archie Hendricks Sr. Skilled Nursing Facility

The Tohono O’odham Nation is located on a large, rural landbase in southern Arizona. Most of its people live in the capital town of Sells, an hour and a half from Tucson, or in small villages even further away. Until 2003, Tohono O’odham elders who needed skilled nursing, post hospital, or hospice care had few options, having to enter facilities in Tucson, Phoenix, or Casa Grande, far from tribal lands – or to get no assistance at all. Not only were such facilities isolated from family, language, and culture, but the Nation had no control over the quality of care delivered to its own people. For a long time, the Nation wanted to address this problem but lacked the resources to do so. But in the 1990s, as tribal resources grew, the Nation realized that it might be able to build a facility on its own lands that could provide the kind of care its elders needed. The Archie Hendricks Sr. Skilled Nursing Facility is a $15 million dollar, state-of-the-art facility with 130 staff; 90% of the staff are Native. The Facility is a chartered tribal enterprise run by a board of directors, with full support from the nation but well insulated from tribal politics. It emphasizes professionalism, high standards, customized care, and a no-compromise attitude toward the fulfillment of its own mission. In conjunction with Tohono O’odham Hospice and others of the nation’s programs, it provides in-patient skilled nursing and end-of-life care for elders, all delivered in culturally appropriate ways. It has become one of the finest elder care facilities anywhere, and is finally realizing the dream of the Tohono O’odham Nation to bring its elders home and let them live out their lives within the circle of family, culture, and homeland.