42 U.S.C. § 2001 : US Code - Section 2001: Hospitals and health facilities transferred to Public Health Service; restriction on closing hospitals

Search 42 U.S.C. § 2001 : US Code - Section 2001: Hospitals and health facilities transferred to Public Health Service; restriction on closing hospitals

(a) All functions, responsibilities, authorities, and duties of
the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Secretary of the Interior, and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs
relating to the maintenance and operation of hospital and health
facilities for Indians, and the conservation of the health of
Indians, are transferred to, and shall be administered by, the
Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service, under
the supervision and direction of the Secretary of Health and Human
Services: Provided, That hospitals now in operation for a specific
tribe or tribes of Indians shall not be closed prior to July 1,
1956, without the consent of the governing body of the tribe or its
organized council.
(b) In carrying out his functions, responsibilities, authorities,
and duties under this subchapter, the Secretary is authorized, with
the consent of the Indian people served, to contract with private
or other non-Federal health agencies or organizations for the
provision of health services to such people on a fee-for-service
basis or on a prepayment or other similar basis.