Happening today, October 14, 2022 for students. Community event tomorrow, October 15, 2022. See flyer above or you may call (928) 755-4712 for more information.
The Arizona Partnership for Immunization (TAPI) Awards Ceremony
Navajo Health Foundation – Sage Memorial Hospital, Inc. was awarded the Dr. Daniel T. Cloud First Time Teen Cloud Award. TAPI honored 126 individuals, organizations, and initiatives during the 2022 Arizona Big Shots awards ceremony.
Charlotte Seaton, RN Supervisor, and Geneva Spencer, Lead CPhT, attended the awards ceremony and accepted the Dr. Daniel T. Cloud First Time Teen Cloud Award presented to Sage Memorial Hospital. Receiving the Daniel T. Cloud Outstanding Practice Award were healthcare providers that achieved a minimum 90% coverage level of their two-year-old patients (4 DTaP, 3 Polio, 1 MMR, 3 Hib, 3 Hep B, and 1 Varicella) and teen patients (1 Tdap and 1 MCV4).
Sage Memorial Hospital Announces Reopening of Surgical Services After Nearly 20 Years
GANADO, Ariz. – Sage Memorial Hospital (SMH) is proud to announce the reopening of its surgical services department. The department, which has been closed since 2006, will resume operations with its first procedure—a colonoscopy and endoscopy—scheduled for the morning of January 21. This milestone marks a historic return to surgical services, ending a nearly 20-year hiatus in the hospital’s general surgery department having ceased operations due to facility challenges and regulatory issues.
“This launch is a major milestone for our community,” said Dr. Kenneth Anaeme, Chief Medical Officer at Sage Memorial Hospital. “After years without local surgical options, we’re bringing these essential services back home.”
The reopening follows a year of intensive preparation since the hospital’s move to its new state-of-the-art facility in December 2024. The new unit will initially focus on outpatient procedures, allowing patients to receive high-quality surgical care and return home the same day.
“For our relatives, this is going to be a significant benefit and convenience,” Anaeme added. “We generally have on average about 10 to 15 referrals for endoscopic procedures every month going out, and these relatives are going out to Flagstaff, and to Phoenix, and recently, we have been unable to secure endoscopies at Flagstaff because they are booked. So, this will stop once we open up because our relatives will be able to get these procedures done right here at Sage.”
Dr. Anaeme outlined SMH’s phased “crawl, walk, run” approach which will begin with outpatient procedures like colonoscopies and esophagogastroduodenoscopies (EGDs). By late February or March 2026, services will expand to labor and delivery, including Caesarean sections, followed by laparoscopic surgeries such as gallbladder removals. Emergency surgeries are anticipated within a year, transforming SMH into a 24/7 surgical unit.
Key personnel include Dr. David Johnson as head of surgery services, Dr. Roger Hucek (also performing surgeries), and Dr Swarnjit Singh (gastroenterologist). In addition, future partnerships with Creighton University Medical Center, will support expanded advanced daytime surgeries once fully operational Anaeme explains.
For more information, please contact the Sage Memorial Hospital at (928) 755-4500 or visit our website at www.sagememorial.com for the latest updates, procedure details, and patient resources.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Christian Bigwater,
Chief Patient Experience Officer
christian.bigwater@sagememorial.com
Office – (928) 755-4532 | Cell – (928) 221-4205
PODCAST EPISODE: Protect Yourself This Flu Season
“New Episode Alert! 🎙️ On the Sage Memorial Podcast, host Keanu Mitchell sits down with Dr. Kenneth Anaeme, Chief Medical Officer at Sage Memorial Hospital, to talk all things FLU—just as cases are surging in Arizona with reports of an 89% weekly increase and a delayed peak extending into 2026)
Dr. Anaeme explains what the flu really is, the differences between Type A & B, and why the vaccine is your #1 defense.
#FightTheFlu #GetYourFluShot #SageMoralPodcast #NavajoHealth #ArizonaFluSeason
Sage Memorial Hospital Wins The Bond Buyer’s 2025 National Deal of the Year Award
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 10, 2025
GANADO, Ariz.  – Sage Memorial Hospital has been named the overall 2025 Deal of the Year by The Bond Buyer, the municipal finance industry’s highest honor. The hospital’s $80 million unrated tax-exempt bond issuance was selected as the national winner from 10 exceptional finalists at the 24th Annual Deal of the Year Awards gala held Dec. 2, at Guastavino’s in New York City.
The project, which was financed by the hospital revenue bond offered through a conduit issuer, Arizona Industrial Development Authority, also won Deal of the Year in the healthcare financing category. The groundbreaking transaction marks the first-ever successful non-rated tax-exempt health care revenue bond offering for a hospital with an entirely indigenous management team and governance.
The innovative financing recapitalized the construction of a state-of-the-art 140,296 sq. ft.  hospital. Key features include 16 inpatient beds (7 swing beds), two operating rooms with eight pre/post-op bays, three labor & delivery rooms, two postpartum rooms, and a four-bed ICU. The 24/7 Emergency Department offers two trauma bays and eight exam rooms, backed by advanced imaging (CT, MRI, mammogram, DXA, X-ray, and ultrasound with ECHO). Outpatient and specialty services comprise 30 exam rooms (including telehealth), five specialty clinics, rehabilitation therapy with PT gym, nine optometry rooms (six lanes), 12 dental operatories, a full pharmacy, and complete lab/microbiology services. Behavioral Health and Traditional Healing remain in the existing building. Proceeds also funded “Apartments at Sage” — a 27-unit complex with one-, two-, and three-bedroom units for healthcare professionals. Opened in August 2024, the new hospital is already transforming health care for the Navajo Nation and surrounding communities.
Mike Scarchilli, Editor in Chief of The Bond Buyer, explained the selection in a Dec. 2 article published by the outlet: “This selection speaks to the heart of what these awards celebrate. It is not simply the size of a transaction, nor is it novelty for novelty’s sake. It is the clarity of purpose, the precision of structure and the courage to open a door that has too often been closed. This transaction stood out for transforming access into outcomes and financial ingenuity into community impact.
[The deal] delivered permanent, long-term financing for a mission-critical community facility. It relied on a structure that broadened market access, even without external ratings; it aligned repayment with real operating performance while thoughtfully incorporating targeted support; and it advanced essential services in a place where distance and history have long imposed barriers. Most importantly, it charts a replicable path for others facing similar challenges.”
“This National Deal of the Year award marks a triumphant milestone for Sage Memorial Hospital, symbolizing a remarkable shift in our community’s understanding of financial empowerment,” said Delores Noble, Board Chair of Sage Memorial Hospital. “Historically, our people have demonstrated remarkable resilience, pulling resources to support collective well-being, as seen in our traditional healing ceremonies. This same spirit of collaboration has enabled us to overcome incredible obstacles and bring quality healthcare to our people. Our ancestors would be proud to see their legacy of community-driven progress continue, inspiring a brighter future for generations to come.”
“We are deeply honored by this recognition,” said Melinda White, Chief Executive Officer of Sage Memorial Hospital. “This award belongs to the Navajo people we serve, our dedicated staff, and the partners who refused to accept barriers as permanent. It proves that tribal health systems can compete—and lead—at the highest levels of finance.”
Sage Memorial Hospital extends heartfelt gratitude to its financial advisor Kaufman Hall, its legal counsels Hobbs Strauss Dean & Walker and Mangum, Wall, Stoops & Warden, its placement agent Blaylock Van, its Bond Counsel Norton Rose Fulbright, the Arizona Industrial Development Authority, and importantly, the investors and their counsel who spent the time necessary to understand the Sage Memorial Hospital story.
“The greatest success for Kaufman Hall is seeing the opening of the new Sage Memorial Hospital,” said John Andersen, CFA, Senior Vice President at Kaufman Hall. “Accomplishing this at a time when rural healthcare access broadly, and particularly on indigenous reservations, is under serious threat, is a testament to Sage’s determination, to the deal team that saw it through, and to the investors who recognized the value their participation could make.”
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About Sage Memorial Hospital
Located in Ganado, Arizona, Navajo Health Foundation – Sage Memorial Hospital is a 25-bed critical access hospital and the only tribally owned and operated health care facility of its kind, providing comprehensive services to the Navajo Nation and surrounding communities.
About Kaufman Hall, a Vizient CompanyÂ
Kaufman Hall, a Vizient company, provides management consulting solutions to help society’s foundational institutions realize sustained success amid changing market conditions. Since 1985, Kaufman Hall has been a trusted advisor to boards and executive management teams, helping them incorporate proven methods, rigorous analytics, and industry-leading solutions into their strategic planning and financial management processes, with a focus on achieving their most challenging goals.
Kaufman Hall services use a rigorous, disciplined, and structured approach that is based on the principles of corporate finance. The breadth and integration of Kaufman Hall advisory services are unparalleled, encompassing strategy; financial and capital planning; performance improvement; treasury and capital markets management; mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, and joint ventures; and real estate.
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Please note that content included on this page includes testimonials, as defined by MSRB Rule G-40. This testimonial originated from an individual not affiliated with a current municipal advisory client. This testimonial may not accurately represent the experiences of all clients and should not be interpreted as a guarantee of future performance or success.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Christian Bigwater
Chief Patient Experience Officer
Sage Memorial Hospital
christian.bigwater@sagememorial.com
Office – (928) 755-4532 | Cell – (928) 221-4205
Sage Memorial Hospital Honored with The Bond Buyer’s 2025 Deal of the Year Award in Health Care Financing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 1, 2025
GANADO, Ariz.  – Sage Memorial Hospital has been selected as the winner of The Bond Buyer’s 2025 Health Care Financing Deal of the Year award, recognizing the hospital’s groundbreaking $80 million unrated tax-exempt bond issuance that closed in December 2024.
The prestigious award recognizes the transaction’s successful recapitalization of a replacement hospital, an expanded outpatient clinic, and critically needed workforce housing serving the Navajo community in Ganado, Arizona.
The Bond Buyer’s editorial board cited the transaction’s innovation and public purpose, noting that it “opened a replicable path to market for indigenous health systems” across the United States. Sage’s financing was selected over hundreds of submissions nationwide and stood out for its ability to overcome significant structural and market challenges while delivering transformative healthcare infrastructure to one of the most underserved regions in the country.
Delores Noble, Board Chairwoman of Sage Memorial Hospital, stated: “As Diné, we have always known that our strength lies in our resilience and our ability to find new paths forward. I am deeply proud of what Sage Memorial and the Board has accomplished and grateful to everyone who helped make this vision a reality.”
“This national recognition belongs to the Navajo people we serve and to the dedicated team,” said Melinda White, Chief Executive Officer of Sage Memorial Hospital. “This award validates that creativity, sovereignty, and community commitment can break through barriers and create a model others can follow.”
Sage Memorial Hospital will be formally honored at The Bond Buyer’s 24th Annual Deal of the Year Awards gala on December 2, 2025, at Guastavino’s in New York City, where it will also be a finalist for the overall national 2025 Deal of the Year award.
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Sage Memorial Hospital Selected as Arizona’s 2025 Community Star in Recognition of the Power of Rural
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2025
GANADO, Ariz. – Sage Memorial Hospital is proud to announce that it has been named Arizona’s 2025 Community Star by the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) as part of the annual Community Star Recognition Program. The honor was officially unveiled today, November 20, 2025, on National Rural Health Day.
The Community Star Recognition Program, launched in 2015 and celebrated each year in conjunction with National Rural Health Day, highlights individuals and organizations that embody the “Power of Rural” through extraordinary leadership, innovation, and dedication to improving health in rural communities. This year’s theme, Moving the Power of Rural Forward, honors the people and places committed to helping rural America thrive.
Located on the Navajo Nation in Ganado, Arizona, Sage Memorial Hospital is the nation’s first Native-managed comprehensive health care system. Serving one of the most remote and underserved regions in the United States, SMH provides critical inpatient, outpatient, emergency, dental, and specialty services while honoring Diné values of K’é, respect, and harmony. In recent years, the hospital has opened a state-of-the-art self-funded $177 million facility, expanded its health services, and strengthened partnerships with other healthcare providers—all to advance its mission of delivering quality health care.
“We are deeply humbled and honored to be selected as Arizona’s Community Star,” said Melinda White, Chief Executive Officer. “It reflects the relentless dedication of our staff and the persistent leadership and resolute support of our Board of Directors. Together we are united in our mission to care for our relatives, empowered by our Tribal sovereignty to exercise self-determination in health and healing. We provide a healing path that overcomes the challenges of rural healthcare to bring excellence and compassionate care closer to home.”
2025 Community Stars
The Community Stars recognition program honors individuals and organizations going above and beyond to improve rural health across the nation. From doctors, nurses, and public health leaders to hospitals, educators, emergency responders, and community-based organizations, these Stars reflect the incredible people and organizations making a difference.
Spanning 47 states, this year’s Community Stars embody the Power of Rural through their compassion, innovation, and collaboration. Each Star, selected by State Offices of Rural Health and other rural advocates, represents a story of leadership and resilience; proof that extraordinary things happen when rural communities come together. The full list of 2025 Community Stars and their stories can be found at: https://powerofrural.org/2025-community-stars/
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