Mark Cruz to lead Indian Health Service amid staffing and infrastructure challenges

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Mark Cruz, a citizen of the Klamath Tribes and senior Health and Human Services advisor, to lead the Indian Health Service (IHS). Cruz was confirmed to serve a four-year term as director of the agency, which provides healthcare for approximately 2.8 million Native American and Alaska Native patients.

Cruz's confirmation comes four years after the position became vacant, and he will take on the role while retaining his newly created position as senior adviser on tribal health to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Cruz has pledged to address the IHS's challenges, including high provider vacancy rates, a backlog of facilities in need of replacement, and the agency's aging infrastructure, which has an average age of around 40 years and a third of its facilities in poor physical condition.

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