What Keweenaw Bay Indian Community does

Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Department of Health & Human Services (KBIC DHHS), operating as KBIC Health, is the tribal health authority of the federally recognized Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (Anishnabe, Lake Superior Band of Chippewa Indians / Ojibwa). Established on July 16, 1971 as the first tribally operated health center in the United States outside of the Indian Health Service, KBIC delivers integrated primary medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy, diabetes management, maternal/child health, medical transportation, and traditional Ojibwe medicine services from the Donald A. LaPointe Health & Education Center, a 218,830 sq ft two-floor facility at 102 N. Superior Avenue, Baraga, Michigan. The organization serves approximately 2,800 tribal members and descendants across Baraga, Houghton, and Ontonagon Counties in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

The operating stack is conventional healthcare IT rather than technology-led: a third-party Patient Portal (MyHealthRecord.com) provides 24-hour record access, messaging, and refill requests; an e-prescribing clearinghouse routes prescriptions to the in-house 340B pharmacy within roughly 10 minutes; and an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system handles automated refill requests. Operational support tools include a custom Google Maps-based Get Active Map for community wellness and PayPal donation processing under its 501(c)(3) status. The KBIC Medical Clinic was the first Tribal Health Department in Michigan designated as a Blue Cross Blue Shield Patient Centered Medical Home, on August 6, 2012.

Revenue is structurally diversified across federally appropriated and fee-based streams rather than commercial contracts. Indian Health Service funding (including the Purchased/Referred Care program for services not deliverable in-house) underwrites core operations; the closed Tribal 340B Rural Health Center Pharmacy generates margin on prescription dispensing; USDA's Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program provides federally funded nutritional supplementation via debit cards; Medicare, Medicaid, and other insurance billing is processed through the business office; and a 501(c)(3) donation channel supplements these streams. Programmatic funding includes the IHS Special Diabetes Program for Indians and CDC sub-grants under GHWIC/BALAC and REACH Journey to Wellness. Go-to-market is community-embedded rather than commercial — focus groups, patient surveys, health fairs, powwows, radio broadcasts, newsletters, and social channels — targeting a fixed, IHS-defined eligible population rather than an open market.

Name

Keweenaw Bay Indian Community

Legal name

Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Department of Health & Human Services

Website

https://kbichealth.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Keweenaw Bay Indian Community is a federally recognized tribal health authority operating the Donald A. LaPointe Health & Education Center in Baraga, Michigan, delivering integrated medical, dental, behavioral, pharmacy, diabetes, maternal/child, and traditional Ojibwe medicine services to approximately 2,800 tribal members across three Upper Peninsula counties.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tribal Healthcare Services

NAICS

Ambulatory Health Care Services (621), American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal Governments (921150), Health Care and Social Assistance (62), Individual and Family Services (6241)

SIC

Services-Offices & Clinics Of Doctors Of Medicine (8011), Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Tribal/Indigenous Public Health Authorities (HLAJAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Primary Care for Underserved Populations (e.g., migrant, homeless, refugee clinics) (HLAFAGAN), Local Public Health & Human Services Administration (BPAIACAK)

Keywords

• Tribal healthcare services
• Community health programs
• Pharmacy dispensing services
• Behavioral health services
• Maternal child health

Headquarters

HQ city

Baraga

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Indian Health Service (IHS) Funding: Federally funded healthcare services through Indian Health Service for qualified tribal members. Includes Purchased Referred Care (PRC) program for services not available at KBIC facilities.
2. 340B Pharmacy Program: Closed Tribal 340B Rural Health Center Pharmacy dispensing prescriptions to registered patients. Generates revenue through pharmacy services for tribal members.
3. WIC Program: Women, Infants and Children federally funded nutritional supplemental and education program providing monthly food benefits via debit cards to eligible participants.
4. Insurance Billing: Billing and payment processing for services rendered including Medicare, Medicaid, and other insurance plans. Business office handles all billing operations.
5. Donations: 501(c)(3) non-profit organization accepting tax-deductible donations to preserve healthcare services for future generations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Keweenaw Bay Indian Community operates a comprehensive tribal healthcare delivery system providing medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy, community health, diabetes management, maternal/child health, traditional Ojibwe healing, and medical transportation services. All services are delivered primarily from the Donald A. LaPointe Health & Education Center in Baraga, Michigan to approximately 2,800 tribal members and descendants across three counties.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Medical Services

Quantifiable outcome

• First Tribal Health Department in Michigan to achieve Patient Centered Medical Home designation by Blue Cross Blue Shield
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Inter-Tribal Council of MichigancoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Created and distributed Anishinaabek Cooking Resources including cookbooks, recipe cards, and posters to five tribes including KBIC. Materials support traditional foods and healthy cooking within Native communities. KBIC is one of six tribes that received these resources.
• Wintergreen Farm to Community ProgramminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSA program providing healthy, traditional nutrition to tribal daycares, seniors, and local departments. Ran for 16 weeks during summer 2016 and winter 2016 seasons.
• Michigan State University ExtensionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMSU Extension provides web-based farming and nutrition training. KBIC staff participated in Beginning to Farming Webinar Series (January - May 2017) and Canning and Preserving training (September-October 2017).

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Native American Health Center (Oakland): California-based 501(c)(3) serving urban and tribal Native populations with medical, dental, behavioral, WIC, and traditional healing services. Direct operational parallel to KBIC's comprehensive tribal health programming.
• Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority: Cherokee, NC-based tribal health system operated by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Operates under P.L. 93-638 Title I self-determination compacts and delivers medical, dental, behavioral health, and pharmacy services to tribal members—the closest functional analogue to KBIC's tribally operated model.
• Forest County Potawatomi Health & Wellness Center: Wisconsin tribal health center operated by the Forest County Potawatomi. Comparable Upper Midwest tribal health system delivering similar comprehensive primary-care services to a small tribal member population.
• Seattle Indian Health Board: Urban Indian health organization serving American Indians/Alaska Natives in the Seattle area. Operates as a 501(c)(3) tribal/urban health provider with medical, dental, behavioral health, and traditional healing services—paralleling KBIC's integrated service delivery and cultural-medicine model.
• Lac du Flambeau Tribal Health Clinic: Wisconsin tribal health clinic serving a small tribal population with primary care, dental, and behavioral health. Operates under the same P.L. 93-638 framework as KBIC with comparable scale and service mix.
• Oneida Nation Health Center: Oneida, WI tribal health operation providing primary care, dental, behavioral, and pharmacy services to tribal members. Comparable tribal self-governance model and similar mid-sized Upper Midwest tribal population served.

Broad incumbents

• Indian Health Service (IHS): Federal agency within HHS operating the direct-care health system for federally recognized tribes. KBIC was specifically established outside the IHS direct-service system in 1971, but IHS remains its largest funding source and operational benchmark for tribal health delivery.
• Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC): Tribally-managed health organization providing statewide services to Alaska Native/American Indian people. Comparable because it operates a comprehensive service portfolio (medical, dental, behavioral, environmental health) under compact with IHS at a much larger scale.

Regional players

• Bay Mills Health Center: Bay Mills Indian Community health center in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, geographically proximate to KBIC. Regional Michigan-tribal peer with similar small-population tribal health delivery model.

Others

• Cherry Health (Federally Qualified Health Center): Michigan FQHC operating under HRSA Section 330 funding with a similar multi-service primary care footprint (medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy, WIC). Different federal funding stream (HRSA vs. IHS) but functionally analogous community-health delivery model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/kbichealth

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Keweenaw Bay Indian Community