In Oklahoma, Black families turn to doulas for better births
While progress to address poor birth outcomes among Black Oklahomans has been slow, women are taking action themselves.
State health officials say they’ve fixed problems at the Public Health Lab in response to a federal investigation, but haven’t released a report on the inquiry.
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.
More funding hasn’t ended Oklahoma’s 13-year wait for disability services
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.
Oklahoma COVID-19 cases trend downward, but hospitals remain strained
As of Sep. 29, 10,208 Oklahomans had died, according to CDC provisional data.
Oklahoma prisons have stopped widespread COVID testing even as cases spike again across the state
The Department of Corrections does not follow most federal guidelines for testing and masking for staff
For many Oklahomans in crisis, help now comes from an iPad
Oklahoma is spending millions to expand its mental health crisis response system.
The money will provide iPads for law enforcement across the state, build new mental health centers and expand mobile crisis services.
In rural Oklahoma, suspicions run high while vaccination rates stay low
Dewey County has the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rate in Oklahoma. Locals say politics, mistrust of government and Facebook are to blame.
Five years after voters approved landmark criminal justice reforms, counties are still waiting for mental health funding
The money Oklahoma saved from sending fewer people to prison was supposed to finance county mental health programs. But the Legislature has never sent any money to the fund and no rules have been written for how the money can be spent.
