Office of Environmental Health and Engineering

Mission

The mission of the Great Plains Area Office of Environmental Health and Engineering (OEHE) is: A caring motivated work group partnering with Tribes to provide healthier environments for every Tribal member.

We provide services to tribes in South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa.

Brent Rolfs, PE Director
Phone: 605-226-7600

• Division of Facilities Management
• Division of Sanitation Facilities Construction
• Environmental Health Services

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Division of Facilities Management

The Great Plains Area Indian Health Service (AAIHS) operates a comprehensive health delivery system for approximately 115,000 Indian people residing in South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa. The comprehensive health delivery system provides preventive, curative, rehabilitative, reparative, restorative, environmental, and inpatient health services. Nineteen Indian Tribes reside in the four state area of the AAIHS.

Comprehensive health services are provided through sixteen Federally operated Service Units and seven Tribal Service Units with the following facilities: Seven IHS hospitals, nine IHS health centers, one Youth treatment center, and seven Tribal compounds . IHS facilities have a total of 118 buildings with 1.2 million gross square footage (GSF) and 600 total staff quarters units.

The mission of the Great Plains Area Division of Facilities Management is to support the delivery of health care and preventative services to American Indians in the Great Plains Area and to safeguard interests in property. Without functional health care facilities, the efficient and effective delivery of preventative and curative services is not possible. The specific goal of the program is to ensure the optimum availability of functional, well maintained health care facilities and staff housing.

The Division of Facilities Management supports the operation of healthcare facilities to accomplish its ultimate goal: the delivery of health care. This Division is involved in the maintenance, repair, improvement, and augmentation of space to include:

• Physical plant (buildings)
• Utility Systems (exterior and interior)
• Clinical Equipment (medical and often non-medical)
• Grounds, Roads, and Parking Lots
• Building Service Equipment Systems
• Minimization of life-cycle costs through effective preventive maintenance
• Planning, designing & constructing facility improvements to existing facilities
• Construction of additional space to complement services
• Targeting the unmet need with limited resources for maximum effectiveness
• Ensuring that energy consumption is minimized through engineering design and responsible operation of building systems
• Assessment of structure, utilities, and equipment
• Design of drawings and specifications for repairs and improvements
• Troubleshooting major component and system failures

The organization of these engineering related services contribute to the provision of a good physical environment for healing and patient care.

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Division of Sanitation Facilities Construction

The Great Plains Area Sanitation Facilities Construction (SFC) Program is responsible for the delivery of environmental engineering services and sanitation facilities to American Indians in the Great Plains Area. The Great Plains Area SFC Program provides services to 18 federally recognized tribes located in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. It accomplishes its responsibilities through the allocation of available resources to District Offices located in Minot, ND; Pierre, SD; and Sioux City, IA.

The enactment of Public Law 86-121, in 1959, is a milestone in Indian health legislation and authorizes the creation of the SFC Program within the Indian Health Service (IHS). The SFC Program provides American Indian and Alaska Native homes and communities with essential water supply, sewage disposal, and solid waste disposal facilities. IHS environmental engineers plan, design, and manage most SFC projects.

The IHS mission is to raise the health status of the American Indian and Alaska Native people to the highest possible level by providing comprehensive health care and preventive health services. To support the IHS mission, the SFC Program provides technical and financial assistance to American Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages for cooperative development and continued operation of safe water, wastewater, and solid waste systems and related support facilities.

Division of Sanitation Facilities Construction Contacts

Address	Name	Title	Phone
Indian Health Service - OEHE Federal Building, Room 309 115 4th Ave. SE Aberdeen, SD 57401	Michael Boland	Director	605-226-7538
Indian Health Service - OEHE Federal Building, Room 309 115 4th Ave. SE Aberdeen, SD 57401	Chad Snell	Deputy Director, Design & Construction	605-226-7603
Indian Health Service - OEHE Minot District Office 2050 36th Ave. SW, Suite 102 Highlander Building B, Minot, ND 58701	Neil Austin	District Engineer	701-852-0250
Indian Health Service - OEHE Minot District Office 2050 36th Ave. SW, Suite 102 Highlander Building B, Minot, ND 58701	Tyler Timmons	Tribal Utility Consultant	701-852-0250
Indian Health Service - OEHE Mobridge Field Office 1921 W. Grand Crossing, PO Box 159, Mobridge, SD 57601	Cody Wolff	Environmental Engineer Consultant	605-845-7254
Indian Health Service - OEHE Pierre District Office 420 S. Garfield, Suite 200 Pierre, SD 57501	Nicholas Palecek	District Engineer	605-224-1644
Indian Health Service - OEHE Pierre District Office 420 S. Garfield, Suite 200 Pierre, SD 57501	Jason Petersen(Acting)	Tribal Utility Consultant	605-224-1644
Indian Health Service - OEHE Martin Field Office 304 1st Ave, PO Box F Martin, SD 57551	James Ainslie	Sr. Environmental Engineer	605-685-6561
Indian Health Service - OEHE Martin Field Office 304 1st Ave, PO Box F Martin, SD 57551	James Begeman	Tribal Utility Consultant	605-685-6561
Indian Health Service - OEHE Sioux City District Office 320 6th ST, Room 212 Box 19 Sioux City, IA 51101	Tristan Woster(Acting)	District Engineer	712-252-3988
Indian Health Service - OEHE Sioux City District Office 320 6th ST, Room 212 Box 19 Sioux City, IA 51101	Jonathan Ireland	Tribal Utility Consultant	712-252-3988
Sisseton PHS Indian Hospital OEHE - Sisseton Field Office 100 Lake Traverse Dr., Sisseton, SD 57262	Ross Hanson	Environmental Engineer Consultant	605-698-7606
Rosebud PHS Indian Hospital OEHE - Rosebud Field Office 1223 Emery St. Apt 38C, Rosebud, SD 57570	Erik Anderson	Environmental Engineer	605-747-0403
Cheyenne River Healthcare Center - OEHE Field Office 24276 166th St, Airport Rd, PO Box 1012 Eagle Butte, SD 57625	Nicholas Palecek(Acting)	Field Engineer	605-964-0599

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Environmental Health Services

The Division of Environmental Health Services (DEHS) is one of 3 programs that make up the Office of Environmental Health and Engineering for the Great Plains Area, Indian Health Service, Office of Public Health.

DEHS is comprised of Sanitarians, Environmental Health Specialists, Environmental Health Technicians, Institutional Environmental Health Officers, Injury Prevention Specialists & support staff. The DEHS leadership and staff provide environmental health consultation to The American Indian tribal governments and Indian Health Service programs within the Great Plains Area (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa).

DEHS provides a wide variety of public health services and is divided into 3 program areas: General Environmental Health, Community Injury Prevention, and Institutional Environmental Health.

Director DEHS

Tim Wildcat, REHS
Director Division of Environmental Health Services & Area Injury Prevention Coordinator
Great Plains Area OEH&E
115 4th AVE SE
Room 309, Federal Building
Aberdeen, SD 57401
Phone: 605-226-7453