SMSC Commitment to Health
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has made a commitment to health and wellness not only for its Community members, but also for its more than 4,100 employees and their families and Native Americans living in Scott County.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s’ health and dental clinics provide free services to Community members, staff, and Native Americans living in Scott County, Minnesota, where the SMSC is located. The Shakopee Dakota Clinic performs x-rays, sets broken bones, stitches wounds, gives physical examinations, and more. The clinic offers a variety of services and screenings, immunizations, an urgent care practice, flu shots, Diabetes Education, Men's and Women's Health Days, blood work, and Occupational Health Care. The clinic has seven exam rooms, a procedure room, conference room, complete lab, treatment room, nurses’ station, supply room, and an x-ray department.

The Shakopee Dakota Dental Clinic has six chairs and three dentists to treat patients. The latest technology is used for dental hygiene, cleanings, examinations, oral cancer screenings, making mouth guards and models, filling cavities, and performing minor procedures and root canals.

The SMSC provides free urgent care services to the employees of its Gaming Enterprise in the Mystic Clinic located on the lower level of the Entertainment Center which opened in August 2007. The clinic offers a variety of services and screenings, immunizations, flu shots, and Occupational Health Care.

In the spring of 2007 the SMSC Pharmacy opened for Gaming Enterprise employees, government and enterprise staff, and members of the SMSC to fill prescriptions right on the reservation. The pharmacy is not open to the public. The pharmacy is located next to the Shakopee Dakota Convenience Store in the Dakota Mall.

In the fall of 2007 the SMSC opened its own Physical Therapy and Chiropractic Clinic on the reservation for Community members, employees, and Team Members. It is located in the Wellness Clinic which is an addition to the Community's health club, Dakotah! Sport and Fitness. The new facility is not open to the public. Medical massage therapy and physical therapy in addition to hydrotherapy for warm water rehabilitation for injuries, arthritis, sprains, strains, and other disorders is offered. Three full-time chiropractors and three physical therapists provide services in the Wellness Clinic.

A vision clinic will provides services for Community members, employees, and their families. Glaucoma screening, vision tests, glasses, and contacts fittings and sales will be available.

In August of 2007 the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community unveiled its own combination Mobile Medical and Incident Command Unit. Looking like a tractor-trailer, or "semi," the Mobile Unit houses facilities for mammography and cancer screening in addition to emergency response. The Mobile Clinic provides services to employees and tribal members during health screening events and Minnesota Indian communities in both rural and urban settings. The Mobile Unit also travels regularly to the Shakopee Women’s Prison for mammography services. The use of the Mobile Clinic as an Incident Command Unit has already proven to be of interest to local law enforcement and other emergency services agencies. The local S.W.A.T. Team used it in April 2008 for a training exercise and it is scheduled for use during the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.

The SMSC sponsors a free Wellness Conference each year for Native Americans living with chronic illness and their families. More than 500 participants attended the 2007 conference at Mystic Lake Casino Hotel. Talks were given on the roots of chronic disease, merging ways of healing, nutrition, exercise, and motivation for change. Facilitated Talking Circles helped participants process the information they learned. Free health screenings were also available to participants, and a morning walk was held at The Meadows at Mystic Lake to honor the important role of exercise in maintaining good health.

The SMSC Mental Health and Chemical Health programs provide services to Community members and all Native Americans residing in Scott County. These services include evaluation, individual, family and couples psychotherapy along with psychiatric consultation and medication management through the Health Department. Networks, the SMSC Employee Assistance Program, also provides mental health and chemical health care to all employees and immediate members of their families. In addition, smoking cessation classes and stress management classes are available to all, as is referral information for legal and financial consultation and counseling.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, as an active participant in the local community, holds several blood drives each year to help save lives. The SMSC has sponsored blood drives for more than 20 years.