In an emotional meeting, the Tribal Council of the Navajo Nation voted last week to allocate $100,000 to the Monument Valley Hospital for 1996 operations.
It is unclear from which budgets the funding will come, but the council accepted an amendment to next year's budget that will give the money to the rural hospital.The hospital has been on the brink of closing for the past two years, staying open only because of last-minute donations that brought the hospital budget out of the red.
"It was a powerfully moving experience," said hospital administrator Ray Carney. "Funding for the hospital had not been part of the budget, but delegates asked for an amendment that would allow it to be presented for approval.
"I had tears in my eyes as delegate after delegate, representing various chapters, stood to their feet and offered to delay many of their own very important projects so that the necessary funds would be available to keep the hospital open."
One example, Carney said, was a chapter that offered $10,000 to the hospital instead of using it to repair its "broken road grader."
"This is particularly significant when you realize that the chapter badly needs an operational road grader to keep its 38 miles of dirt road passable during winter months," he said.
The nation is also appealing to the Utah Navajo Trust Fund to match its donations. The Oljato Chapter, which is closest to the hospital, is also going to help the hospital with marketing efforts in hopes of boosting business.
Carney said business at the outpatient clinic is up by about 20 percent, and inpatient business is up by 50 percent.
Both the hospital, which is run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and the Navajo Nation are continuing efforts to come up with ideas about how to keep the hospital open on a long-term basis.
It is the only hospital on the Utah side of the Navajo Indian Reservation. Most of the hospital's clients are Indians, but Indian Health Services regulations have prevented the hospital and its clinic from receiving payments for some care administered to Indians.
One plan that officials have worked on for a couple of years is changing the regulations that govern which facilities can see those people who depend on the INS for health-care services.