Federal Emergency Declaration Allowing State Hospitals To Expand For COVID-19 Patients
Hospital s hands were tied in making room for more patients for a while after Gov. Kevin Stitt ended the state s emergency declaration. That has now changed.
After a meeting on Monday with hospitals, they now have more freedom. The hospitalizations you see in the data that comes from the health department means that someone who is hospitalized is placed in a bed, in a room and is staying for more than 24 hours, Lawanna Halstead, R.N., and Vice President of Quality and Clinical Initiatives for the Oklahoma Hospital Association said.
Bill seen as threat to independence of health departments By: Paul Monies Oklahoma Watch March 10, 2021
ICU nurse Erica Arrocha talks with Gov. Kevin Stitt and Oklahoma State Commissioner of Health Dr. Lance Frye before administering the state’s first COVID-19 vaccine at Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City on Dec. 14, 2020. (Photo by Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch)
Local board members in Oklahoma and Tulsa counties are casting a skeptical eye at a House bill that would give the state health commissioner a voice on their local governing boards and veto authority over any future picks for executive directors.
House Bill 2504, by state Rep. Chris Kannady, R-Oklahoma City, would give the state’s health commissioner one appointment on the nine-member governing boards of the independently run Oklahoma City-County Health Department and the Tulsa Health Department.
Oklahoma health officials reported 55 new deaths due to the coronavirus on Thursday, for a total of 3,140 deaths since March. They are as follows:
Nine in Tulsa County, two females in the 65 or older age group, seven males in the 65 or older age group.
Seven in Oklahoma County, one female in the 50-64 age group, two females in the 65 or older age group, one male in the 50-64 age group, three males in the 65 or older age group.
Four in Custer County, one female in the 50-64 age group, three males in the 65 or older age group.
Four in Pontotoc County, two females in the 65 or older age group, two males in the 65 or older age group.