A growing number of women are facing criminal charges for substance use during pregnancy in Oklahoma. Experts and health care providers say that’s bad for moms and babies.
A lack of resources means many people are sent back to the street or to shelters that can’t handle their medical needs. Here’s how I wrote the story.
Oklahoma City has limited resources for people experiencing homelessness after they’ve been discharged from a hospital. Hospital social workers often have few options but to discharge people to the street, typically armed with a bus pass, or to send them to local shelters.
Watch our discussion with information and resources that families can use to empower themselves to improve health outcomes for themselves and their babies.
Critics of the decision to move a state laboratory from Oklahoma City to Stillwater said they are not surprised a federal investigation found problems with staffing levels and COVID-19 testing protocols.
While progress to address poor birth outcomes among Black Oklahomans has been slow, women are taking action themselves.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began an on-site investigation of the Public Health Lab on Sept. 21 following months of turmoil after the lab was relocated from Oklahoma City to Stillwater.
A consultant the Department of Human Services is paying $8.5 million to help solve the problem isn’t doing work that is substantially different from five previous efforts, the report found.
