The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will celebrate the completion of the new $80 million, 150,000-square-foot Cherokee Indian Hospital building in Cherokee with a ribbon cutting and tour 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 15. 

“We believe the new building will help us foster an environment of wellness so our patients don’t just come to us when they are sick, they come to us as friends and partners in wellness,” said Casey Cooper, a tribal member who has led the hospital as CEO for the past 10 years.

The new pharmacy department will open for service Monday, Oct. 19, with the rest of the hospital seeing patients beginning Nov. 16. 

The project has been nearly two years in the making through a partnership between the Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority, Design Strategies and Robins and Morton Construction Company.