Healthcare policy and operations can get complicated fast. Field Notes from Indian Country is where John Reeves III breaks those topics down in plain language so leaders can make faster, more confident decisions.

Our focus is simple: take complex healthcare information and turn it into clear language and practical next steps that teams can actually use.

This is not a news feed and it is not theory for theory’s sake. Each Field Note is built to answer a practical leadership question: What changed? Why does it matter for tribal health programs? What should we do next?

What we are doing here: translating complex policy, finance, operations, governance, and workforce issues into clear, usable guidance for tribal leaders, executives, and teams.

How this helps:

Recent Field Notes

John R Reeves III

I’m John R Reeves III — a healthcare executive, author, and the president of Indigenous Healthcare Advancements. For over twenty years, I’ve worked inside tribal and rural health systems, not as an outside consultant, but as someone who has led from within.

 

I served as Health Administrator for the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians, where I helped build Three Rivers Health Center — their first Tribal FQHC — from the ground up in Coos Bay, Oregon. I went on to serve as CEO of United Indian Health Services, a nine-clinic tribal health system in northwestern California, overseeing 300+ staff and serving 20,000 patients.

 

I hold a Master’s in Healthcare Administration from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, and my career has taken me from the tribal health systems of northern California and the Pacific Northwest to Hawaii and now into new work across California.

 

I wrote “Culture is the Operating System” because I believe the way we deliver care has to start with culture — not compliance. And I host “The Truth as Medicine” podcast to share the voices and stories of the people doing this work every day.

 

New health centers and sites are coming to California soon through IHA. This work is far from over — it’s just getting started.