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PAWHUSKA – As a decorated combat veteran who advocates for Native health care, Mark Rogers has accepted many honors over the years including the 2025 Cherokee Phoenix Seven Feathers Service Award. Since 2019, the newspaper has spotlighted Cherokee Nation citizens and their impact in the areas of business, community, culture, education, health, language and service. Rogers, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel from Pawhuska, Oklahoma, was selected as this year’s service winner. “I was elated and extremely proud,” he said. “I am in the public spotlight a lot with my profession as a health-care CEO, but I am reluctant to ‘be’ in the public spotlight, instead promoting and advancing my staff and people who make our programs and services happen in our health system and community.” He added that he puts his staff first “because that is what good leaders do – recognize the people who make our jobs easier and are good people doing good things in serving the Native American patients and community of Osage County.” The 59-year-old is CEO of the Osage Nation Health System and an adjunct professor at the University of Oklahoma Hudson School of Public Health and Oklahoma State University’s Center for Health Sciences. He was nominated for the Seven Feathers honor by a colleague in the health profession. “When reflecting upon Cherokee citizens who have dedicated their life to that of service, I think of Mark Rogers,” his nominator, Brandi Payton, wrote. “Mr. Mark Rogers has dedicated over four decades to serving his country as a veteran and advocating for the health and well-being of Native American communities.” A Gulf War veteran, Rogers retired in June as a lieutenant colonel and senior health services administrator with the 137th Special Operations Wing, Special Operations Medical Group of the Oklahoma Air National Guard. “I joined the military because I wanted to serve my country and do something important in life,” he said, “coming from a family with the warrior ethos and competitive sports being a big part of who we are and who I am.” At a special retirement ceremony, Rogers was honored for “40 years of faithful and honorable service in the U.S. Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard.” “Recognizing a member who is retiring from a career of long and honorable service is one of the oldest traditions in the military,” Oklahoma Air National Guard 1st Lt. Sarah Willhight said. “For over 40 years, Lt. Col. Mark Rogers has served the U.S. Air Force in dual capacities, with both the military and in civil service.” This year, Rogers was invited into the collegiate honor society of Phi Kappa Phi at Oklahoma State University and most recently was honored with a lifetime achievement award by the Greater Tulsa Area Indian Affairs Commission. The commission’s Roberta Pratt Gardipe American Indian Veterans Award states, in part, the recipient is “duly noted for their patriotism and dedication to the military and is held highly by his family and/or the Native community.” As a selection for the White House’s Native American Veterans Healthcare Policy Development Review Team, he focused on improving health care for Native Americans nationwide and on reservations. Rogers was also a political appointee to the Oklahoma Trauma Systems Improvement and Development Advisory Council, serving as one of its original members. Other honors include a 2009 Hospital Administration/CEO of the Year award from the Rural Health Organization of Oklahoma, and a 2020 Oklahoma Indian Elder Honors Award from AARP. Rogers holds a master’s degree from Bellevue University in Nebraska and is working toward a doctorate in health care administration at Oklahoma State University. He and his wife, Tammy, have been married for 40 years. They have three children and three grandchildren. Cherokee Phoenix Seven Feathers recipients were honored Nov. 1 during an annual awards gala in Tahlequah.
