Health
Ransomware attacks force Oklahoma hospitals to divert emergency room patients
Oklahoma is among six states experiencing a temporary disruption to some hospital services after a ransomware attack against Ardent Health Services, a health care company based in Nashville. Ardent operates 30 hospitals, including those under Oklahoma’s Hillcrest HealthCare System. It’s investigating a ransomware attack it experienced on Nov. 23, and, according to a news release, […]
Some Republicans willing to compromise on abortion ban exceptions. Activists ensured they didn’t.
This story was originally published by ProPublica.”ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Series: Post-Roe America:Abortion Access Divides the Nation After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending nearly 50 years of federal protection for abortion, some states […]
Author explores gratitude’s dark side — and how being grateful might still rescue us
For the author of a book on gratitude Diana Butler Bass has what might be a surprising admission: Gratitude didn’t come naturally to her. Bass published “Grateful,” her 12th book, five years ago. But before writing it, “I would not have considered myself a naturally grateful person,” she says. “I always struggled with cultivating gratitude, […]
Oklahoma AG clarifies exceptions for abortion patients and medical providers
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s attorney general said Tuesday that although state law prohibits most abortions, pregnant women cannot be punished for seeking out the procedure. In response to a request from six GOP lawmakers, Attorney General Gentner Drummond issued a formal opinion clarifying that state law does not allow for pregnant women — even those […]
Most Americans want health exceptions in abortion bans. Political infighting keeps blocking them.
In early October, an Idaho woman 20 weeks into her pregnancy went to the emergency room after her water broke about five months early. When the water breaks prematurely, an infection can develop and infect the fetus, placenta and other fluids. At that stage of pregnancy, the threat of infection becomes a ticking clock for […]
VA veterans crisis line to face new investigation by congressional watchdog agency
WASHINGTON — The Government Accountability Office plans to investigate multiple whistleblower allegations of “gross mismanagement” at the Department of Veterans Affairs veterans crisis line, following a request from Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran, States Newsroom has learned. Moran, ranking member on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, sent a letter to the VA secretary this week […]
New technology helps Oklahoma officers, clinicians provide mental health care
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Deputy Gene Bradley stared down the reality that an armed man who threatened to end his life might die like so many others experiencing a mental health crisis. But on that fall day in 2021, Bradley had a tool that would make a difference – an iPad that quickly […]
A lifeline: Free mental health hotline serves thousands of Oklahomans
A new free mental health hotline fielded tens of thousands of calls from Oklahomans during its first year. The national 988 hotline launched in Oklahoma in July 2022, and operators have answered 50,000 calls for help, reports from the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services show. The hotline is a federally funded […]
Oklahoma doesn’t mandate sex ed, so some churches are trying to fill the gaps
Margo Starr grew up going to All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa. When she was in middle school, the church offered classes on Sunday afternoons, and one of them was a sex education course. Her friends signed up for it and, in classic middle school fashion, she joined in on what her friends were doing. […]
Oklahoma commissioner on mental health, substance abuse services to depart
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s top mental health official announced Tuesday that she plans to step down. Commissioner Carrie Slatton-Hodges said she will leave the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for a national position. Her final day on the job will be Dec. 31. Slatton-Hodges, a longtime licensed professional counselor, has led […]
OU Health begins construction on behavioral health center for children
OKLAHOMA CITY — Officials broke ground Wednesday on a new pediatric behavioral health center at OU Health that will be the first of its kind in the state. Once complete, the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Behavioral Health Center will have 72 beds for children to receive short-term and long-term mental health care. The three-story, 172,755-square-foot […]
Millions of rural Americans rely on private wells. Few regularly test their water.
FORT DODGE, Iowa — Allison Roderick has a warning and a pledge for rural residents of her county: The water from their wells could be contaminated, but the government can help make it safe. Roderick is the environmental health officer for Webster County in north-central Iowa, where a few thousand rural residents live among sprawling […]