State health department general counsel no longer employed at agency, spokesman confirms
Donald Maisch’s exit is at least the fourth high-ranking health department employee to leave the agency since Monday.
As budget debate continues, mental health providers, advocates on edge
I am begging them. They need to compromise.” — Jill Young, program chief of outpatient services for Family & Children’s Services
‘Unprecedented’: Mental health advocates, state leaders prepare for the worst as mental health cuts loom
For Family & Children’s Services, the cuts would be “catastrophic.” The organization provides treatment for almost 18,000 adults with serious mental illness and 4,200 children with behavioral disorders health every year.
Oklahoma rehab work camps were about to be regulated. Then a friend stepped in
“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.”
After losing Medicaid contract, Shadow Mountain had fewer patients in its care
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.
Class-action suit filed against court-referred work program following national investigation
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.
As furloughs and service cuts loom, state Health Department requests audit
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.
As special session is put on hold, state health department advocates for cigarette tax
“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.”
