For Mashpee Wampanoag citizens and families
Addiction Treatment for Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Citizens
If you are a Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe citizen, IHS may pay for addiction treatment services at Thundermaker Wellness Center in Prescott, Arizona. Thundermaker is a confirmed IHS Purchased/Referred Care (PRC) provider for the Nashville Area, which includes the Mashpee Wampanoag Health Service Unit in Mashpee, Massachusetts.
Start with your service unit. Make an appointment with a provider at the Mashpee Wampanoag Health Service Unit at (508) 477-6967, ask for a substance use assessment, and request Thundermaker by name. A referral from one of their providers is how Purchased/Referred Care begins. Then call us at (928) 531-1930 and we work the authorization with your PRC office.
PRC is used when IHS is unable to offer a service at its own facilities. The service unit decides each request based on eligibility, medical priority, and any other coverage you have.
We answer your call 24 hours a day.
Who Handles My PRC Request?
Mashpee Wampanoag citizens are served by the Mashpee Wampanoag Health Service Unit of the Indian Health Service. Here the referral has to come from one of the service unit's own providers, so your first step is an appointment there. Its behavioral health team offers substance use assessment, help arranging treatment, and outpatient therapy, which makes it the right place to start the conversation.
- Mashpee Wampanoag Health Service Unit, 483B Great Neck Road South, Mashpee, MA 02649 (opens in new tab)
- Phone (508) 477-6967
- Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. Wednesday mornings are set aside for staff meetings.
- Mashpee Wampanoag Health and Human Services (opens in new tab)
The service unit's PRC Committee reviews each referral and approves, defers, or denies it based on medical priority and available funding. Check out the Tribe on this tribal page (opens in new tab) for other resources.
Do I Live in the PRC Delivery Area (PRCDA)?
PRC pays only for citizens who live inside the PRC delivery area (PRCDA). For the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, that area is five Massachusetts counties: Barnstable, Bristol, Norfolk, Plymouth, and Suffolk.
That covers all of Cape Cod, the Taunton, New Bedford, and Fall River area, Plymouth and the South Shore, Quincy and the towns south of Boston, and Boston itself.
If you live somewhere else, your service unit can tell you what applies to you.
How Do I Get Started?
Three steps. The order matters, because PRC has to know before care begins.
- See a Health Service Unit providerCall the Mashpee Wampanoag Health Service Unit at (508) 477-6967 and make an appointment. Say you are looking for addiction treatment, ask for a substance use assessment, and request a PRC referral to Thundermaker Wellness Center by name.
- Call usCall (928) 531-1930, day or night, and ask for admissions. Once your provider sends the referral, we handle the clinical paperwork and stay in touch with the Mashpee PRC office until there is an answer. Referring staff can ask for Jeri.
- You come to PrescottOnce PRC approves, we set your start date and help plan the trip from Massachusetts. On your first day we welcome you, share a meal, and build your plan with your counselor. See what your first day looks like.
If you need emergency care, get it first and handle PRC after. Your PRC office needs to hear from you within 72 hours, or within 30 days if you are 65 or older or have a disability, or the bill is usually left unpaid.
Why Should I Pick Thundermaker for My Treatment and Recovery in Arizona?
The Tribe offers recovery support close to home through its Health and Human Services programs, including The 360 Project (opens in new tab). Some people need more than an outpatient visit can give. Time away from Cape Cod and the places tied to their drinking or using removes daily triggers and easy access, and gives them room to heal in a program where culture is part of every day.
We are Native owned and operated and led by Native staff who know this road firsthand. In our Cultural and Traditional Program, ceremony, sweat lodge, drum, garden work, and traditional arts sit beside licensed counseling every week. You can step into the Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP), the Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), or individual and family counseling, whichever fits.
When you finish, we plan your return with your Health Service Unit provider, so the support at home is ready when you get back to Mashpee.
Every person who reaches out is welcomed as a relative.
What Do I Need to Bring?
- Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe enrollment card
- Photo ID
- Proof of your address inside the PRCDA
- Your PRC authorization number
- Prescription medications in their original bottles, with a list of doses
- Court or probation paperwork, if a court is involved
- Clothes that fit the season you are traveling in: summer, fall, or winter
- Toiletries and hygiene products, if you have them. If you do not, that is okay.
Questions People Ask
Does IHS pay for addiction treatment for Mashpee Wampanoag citizens?
IHS Purchased/Referred Care may pay for addiction treatment services when a Mashpee Wampanoag Health Service Unit provider refers you and the PRC office authorizes it before care.
Who has to make the PRC referral?
A provider at the Mashpee Wampanoag Health Service Unit, 483B Great Neck Road South in Mashpee. Call (508) 477-6967 to make an appointment and ask for a substance use assessment.
Do I have to live on Cape Cod?
You need to live inside the Mashpee PRCDA: Barnstable, Bristol, Norfolk, Plymouth, or Suffolk County in Massachusetts. That includes Cape Cod, Taunton, New Bedford, Fall River, Plymouth, Quincy, and Boston.
Can a family member make the first call?
Yes. A parent, spouse, cousin, case manager, or probation officer can call us at (928) 531-1930. The PRC referral itself comes from your Health Service Unit provider.
Is Thundermaker part of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe?
No. Thundermaker Wellness Center is an independent, Native owned and operated treatment center in Prescott, Arizona, and a confirmed IHS PRC provider for the Nashville Area.
Is the phone really answered at night?
Yes. We answer your call at (928) 531-1930 24 hours a day.
Where Do I Start?
See your Health Service Unit provider first, then call us. We will walk you through what PRC may cover and when you could start. Email works too: admissions@thundermakerwellness.com.
Sources: IHS Mashpee Wampanoag Health Service Unit; Federal Register, September 13, 2012; Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, Indian Health Services; IHS Purchased/Referred Care. See also how IHS PRC may pay for addiction treatment and the IHS PRC vendor page.