KOSU and StateImpact Oklahoma won 29 awards from the Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists, Professional Chapter for stories that aired during 2020.
Freeman serves Native-owned business in multiple capacities
By Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton, Citizen Potawatomi Nation Public Information Department
Felecia Freeman did not plan to seek out a board seat with the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Oklahoma.
It just sort of fell into her lap.
“I don’t think I ever officially ran,” she said with a smile. “It was one of those situations where the officers and members asked me to do this. Last year, I said we might have more capable people available, but it was easy for the board to ask me as someone who knows how to put items on the agendas and upload them and take minutes. I didn’t just jump out and say, ‘I’ll do it.’”
Keeping it ultra-cold: CPNHS rolls out COVID-19 vaccines
Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton
One arm at a time.
One shot at a time.
Within days of emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, Citizen Potawatomi Nation Health Services began receiving and administering vaccines to combat the coronavirus in central Oklahoma.
Along with the other self-governance tribes across Oklahoma, CPNHS opted to get its primary vaccine doses through the Indian Health Service rather than through the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
CPNHS Chief Medical Officer Dr. Adam Vascellaro said the decision to go through IHS was deliberate. This move increases the chances of both the tribe and its pandemic vaccination partner, the Pottawatomie County Health Department, having dual distributor access to the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine for the populations they serve.
Oklahoma healthcare training built to improve dementia patient care
By Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton, Citizen Potawatomi Nation Public Information Department
An education program through OU Health is attempting to shore up access to care for the state’s dementia patients.
In 2019, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center received a five-year, $3.75 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Service Administration. Among the objectives of the grant was to provide community-based training and educational opportunities to improve health outcomes for the state’s dementia patients.
“We know people are living longer than ever before,” said Terence Gipson, Oklahoma Dementia Care Network program evaluator. “With an increasing elder population, particularly here in Oklahoma and in our rural communities, there’s a need to provide more community-based services for our elders, particularly in the realm of Alzheimer’s disease and