The Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) board of directors approved the entity’s first-ever legacy grants. Fourteen awards totaling nearly $150 million will go toward expanding access to and improving Oklahoma health care, especially in rural and underserved areas.
The opportunity comes as TSET celebrates 25 years since Oklahoma voters approved the state question that created it. TSET uses earnings from Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement payments to improve Oklahomans’ health.
“TSET’s ability to offer these Legacy Grants to improve health is a testament to the wisdom of the public officials who framed the agency and the Oklahoma voters who approved the state question 25 years ago this month,” said TSET Executive Director Julie Bisbee in a press release. “TSET is truly unique in the nation and it’s only through the smart stewardship of our tobacco settlement dollars that TSET is able to make such a substantial investment in improving health.”
The grantmaking entity received 167 applications with a total of $1.5 billion in requests, according to the release. Its board of directors prioritized projects demonstrating the potential to transform health outcomes and sustainability.
Oklahoma’s health care system ranks nearly the worst in the nation, according to recent data from the Commonwealth Fund. Ken Rowe, the board of directors chair, said these grants are an opportunity to improve health for generations to come.
“I’m excited to see these projects get started,” Rowe said in the release.
The awards include the following entities and projects:
Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences, $25 million: The “Access to Clinical Trials” initiative will help build a Stephenson Cancer Center facility in Tulsa, increasing access to clinical trials in Tulsa and northeast Oklahoma.
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, $9,878,000: The “TSET Institute for a Healthier Oklahoma” will address three root causes underlying chronic disease: inflammation, impaired immunity and accelerated aging. The project includes expansion of research facilities, expanded telehealth, distributed trials and clinical research.
Community Health Connection, $4.4 million: The “Maternal and Child Health Center” will increase access to low-cost pediatric, obstetrics and gynecology services in Tulsa County through construction of a specialized maternal and child clinic and partial support to three direct care teams during the clinic’s first year of operations.
Healthy Minds Policy Initiative, $5,570,000: The “Oklahoma Integrated Care Resource Center” will work to integrate behavioral health care into primary care, also known as the Collaborate Care Model.
Oklahoma Hospital Association, $18,690,000: The “HOPE Initiative: Helping Oklahomans with Prevention and Early Detection Lung Cancer Screening & Tobacco Cessation Saves Lives” will increase access to preventative lung cancer screening and tobacco cessation services, including public awareness campaigns, patient navigation and coordination with other health systems.
The association will also receive $3,220,000 for its “Healthy Oklahoma Communities Initiative,” which will address tobacco prevention and cessation, obesity, health-related social needs, community wellbeing and stroke by piloting a model integrating a community health worker. Support will include screening, case management, patient navigation and community engagement. The association will contract with several hospitals across the state to employ workers.
Chickasaw Foundation, $6,778,000: The “Once-in-a-Century Opportunity to Transform the Health Outcomes of First Americans in Oklahoma through Graduate Medical Education” initiative will establish two residency programs in pediatrics and obstetrics/gynecology, and three fellowship programs in pediatric endocrinology, endocrinology and rheumatology, during the construction of the Chickasaw Nation Department of Health’s $3 billion health services complex in Newcastle.
Durant Family Medicine Clinic, $3 million: The “Durant Health Access & Innovation Initiative” will work to improve access to care, prevent chronic disease and strengthen the rural health care workforce through a strategy spanning telehealth expansion, prevention-focused primary care, health care provider education and regional outreach.
East Central University, $13,147,000: The “Dan Hays STEM Center/School of Nursing” initiative will train additional nurses and health professionals with the completion of the Dan Hays STEM Center/School of Nursing building.
Oklahoma State University Medical Center, $30 million: The “Advancing Healthcare Education and Workforce Development Across Oklahoma” project will develop a state-of-the-art educational facility focused on graduate medical education and allied health workforce training. The expansion will allow for 100 additional physician residency positions in the OSU Academic Medical District and across eastern/northeastern Oklahoma.
Rogers State University Foundation, $3,017,000: The “Bachelor of Science Degree in Nutritional Sciences” initiative will create a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition Science degree program at Rogers State University. The program will help meet a regional workforce demand, especially in rural eastern Oklahoma, for dietitians and nutrition professionals to lower high rates of obesity, diabetes and other health issues caused by poor nutrition.
Youth Medical Mentorship, $500,000: The “Home Grown Health Professional Pipeline” initiative will help address provider shortages by identifying and mentoring Oklahoma youth with interest in and aptitude for medical careers.
Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, $9,429,000: The “Feeding Futures Initiative – Nutritious Prepared Meals for Food-Insecure Students” will provide nutritious, convenient, pre-made meals to food-insecure, low-income students to take home when school meals are unavailable after school, during weekends and on school breaks. The program aims to serve students in 200 school districts in all 77 counties.
City of Tulsa, $17,360,000: The “North Tulsa Wellness Initiative: A Community Collaboration to Address Prevention, Wellness and Quality of Life” will work to improve the health and quality of life for people in the underserved Hawthorne and Whitman neighborhoods in north Tulsa.
The 5,500 Tulsans living in those neighborhoods have a life expectancy six years less than Tulsa County as a whole. The program will work to address tobacco prevention and cessation and health improvement, with specialized programs designed to meet the needs of children and older adults.
It brings together local non-profits, city government and community organizations to address barriers and build solutions to health issues. Specific activities will tackle health care access, early prevention of chronic disease and enhanced quality of life through a variety of programming among nine partners.
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