WHAT:
The Cherokee Nation will celebrate the grand opening of its new 49,000 square-foot Mary L. (Holland) Carson Wellness Center in Stilwell.
WHEN:
Monday, August 4 at 11 a.m.
WHERE:
Mary L. (Holland) Carson Wellness Center
471776 Hwy. 51
Stilwell, Oklahoma
WHO:
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.
Cherokee Nation Deputy Chief Bryan Warner
Cherokee Nation Cabinet
Council of the Cherokee Nation
Cherokee Nation Public Health
Stilwell Community leaders
STILWELL, Okla. — The Cherokee Nation is opening its state-of-the-art, $21.2 million Mary L. (Holland) Carson Wellness Center in Stilwell. The 49,000 square foot, two-story wellness center consists of a fitness center with a weight and cardio space, fitness classrooms, an indoor running track, a childwatch room, a congregation room with a café, a basketball court, locker rooms and batting cages. Outdoor amenities include walking trails, gathering spaces, a covered fitness area and pavilion, a water feature and an outdoor field for the traditional Cherokee game of marbles.
The wellness center was funded through the Public Health and Wellness Fund Act of 2021, amended most recently in 2023, which dedicates $100 million in settlement funds from opioid and e-cigarette lawsuits for a variety of public health programs. The act also dedicates 7% of the tribe’s annual third-party health insurance collected to physical and mental wellness programs.
This is the first public wellness building operated by the tribe to be built in Stilwell. It will be free for Cherokee Nation citizens and memberships are open to the community for a small fee.
Carson Family Foundation donated the land for the Mary L. (Holland) Carson Wellness Center.
A 75,000 square foot wellness center in Tahlequah is currently under construction to replace the Male Seminary Recreation Center, and is expected to open in 2026. A wellness space located in the new Salina Health Center will open later this year. The tribe also has wellness spaces located in Marble City and Kenwood.