Oklahoma Watch (http://oklahomawatch.org/category/publichealth/)
Although the Pauls Valley hospital has closed, the city continues to hold on to 28 nursing homes whose enhanced federal payments were supposed to help keep the hospital open. The city is waiting for a determination from federal regulators on the arrangement.
A handful of small Oklahoma cities have become owners of dozens of Oklahoma nursing homes across the state in the past 15 months, hoping to tap into a federal program that will bring them millions of dollars. Can they ensure quality of care?
Licenses for a total of 46 nursing homes are owned by a handful of Oklahoma cities and one town. Here’s a list of the nursing homes and their owners.
The federal government has clawed back another $32 million in Medicaid matching funds as part of an ongoing dispute over Oklahoma’s use of the money to help fund medical schools that treat Medicaid patients. However, the agency said it would provide matching money through June 2019.
Because marijuana is still illegal at the federal level, all transactions in medical marijuana in Oklahoma will likely be made in cash, from growers to buyers, as banks will avoid the business. That will bring a host of complications.
This interactive map shows results by county in the vote on State Question 788, which legalized medical marijuana.
Medical associations have been cautious or opposed when it comes to legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes. But what do individual doctors think? Oklahoma Watch talked to a physician in Oklahoma City and another in Florida, where a form of medical marijuana is legal, to get their perspectives. Oklahoma voters weigh in June 26.
Until Monday, a marijuana-derived drug had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. What does the research show about the effects of marijuana on health?
Patients here will pay one of the highest tax rates for medical marijuana among the 30 states that currently offer it if State Question 788 is approved by voters this month, according to an Oklahoma Watch analysis.
As the news rolled out Thursday that the Oklahoma State Department of Health never was insolvent, the reaction was a stunned disbelief. Then anger.
A multi-county grand jury and auditors served up plenty of answers about the financial crisis at the Oklahoma State Department of Health. But questions remained. Here are some of the answers.
