Navajo Nation’s Sage Memorial Hospital performs first surgery in 20 years

Sage Memorial Hospital (SMH), which serves the Navajo Nation in Ganado, Ariz., has reopened its surgical services department for the first time in nearly two decades. On Jan. 21, it performed a colonoscopy and endoscopy, culminating an historic return for the hospital’s general surgery department, which closed in 2006 due to facility challenges and regulatory issues.

“After years without local surgical options, we’re bringing these essential services back home,” said SMH Chief Medical Officer Kenneth Anaeme, MD. He said the reopening will provide much-needed convenience for patients who needed to travel all the way to Flagstaff for endoscopies – and even as far as Phoenix when Flagstaff facilities were booked.

SMH moved to what it calls a new state-of-the-art facility in December 2024. Dr. Anaeme said SMH is employing a phased “crawl, walk, run” approach with the reopened surgical unit. It will initially focus on same-day outpatient procedures, starting with colonoscopies and esophagogastroduodenoscopies. In late February or March, 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, at which time SMH will become a 24/7 surgical unit.

SMH anticipates a future partnership with Creighton University Medical Center will support "expanded advanced daytime surgeries."

The Office of Navajo Nation President Buu Van Nygren has much more on the SMH surgical services department’s grand reopening.