“He said, ‘Look, I have a couple of them in my area. Would you mind exempting them?’ ” recalled Republican Rep. Dale Derby, who sponsored the bill. “I wasn’t aware that he was on the board. I wouldn’t have done it.”
The new report found facility deficiencies only at a “standard” level, which are typically considered to be minor. This means the Health Department now recognizes the facility to be in compliance with agency standards.
Whether the report’s findings will affect the facility’s prospects of getting its Medicaid contract back is unclear.
The lawsuit alleges CAAIR and Simmons Food violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, Oklahoma Protection of Labor Act, Oklahoma Minimum Wage Act and Oklahoma’s Human Trafficking statutes.
The department may eliminate walk-in clinics and instead make them appointment-only, regionalize some clinic services to the larger counties, and reduce the number of days the clinics are open.
“I’ll just speak candid, we have about 13 paid tobacco lobbyists working that cabinet,” said Terry Cline “They don’t care that it’s killing 7,000 Oklahomans every single year because it’s money in their pocket.”
At least five lawsuits against Shadow Mountain Behavioral Health have been filed in both state and federal court since April.
“When we can break through the stigma we can help people understand this is a disease just like any other disease.” — Terri White, commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Mental health advocates, health providers and law enforcement point to a lack of access to routine care and loss of private beds in Tulsa as the cause of the increase in out-of-town transports.
