The Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust announced millions in grants Wednesday to expand patient access to trained doctors and cancer treatments.
The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences regents and the Oklahoma State University Medical Center were the largest recipients, being awarded $25 million and $30 million respectively, receiving over 36% of all funding awarded.
The OSU Medical Center will use its funding to develop a new facility for graduate medical education with a goal of creating 100 more physician residency positions, supported by the TSET grant.
Oklahoma has a shortage of health care providers, especially in rural areas, according to Metriatch, an Oklahoma-focused research and policy organization.
Increasing the number of available residencies in Oklahoma is important because, according to the American Medical Association, a majority of physicians who complete their residency training choose to practice in the state where they were trained, varying by location and specialty.
“Oklahomans deserve not only the ability to see a health care provider, but they deserve a well trained provider,” said Dr. Mike Herndon, a member of the OSU Medical Authority and Trust. “And they deserve a provider that is convenient and close to them and can do it in a timely manner. So this grant helps us to provide that very access and that ability.”
OU Health Sciences will use the $25 million grant to support construction of a new location of the Stephenson Cancer facility in Tulsa, which officials said will increase access to cancer treatments in northeast Oklahoma.
Dr. Gary Raskob, provost for the OU Health campus, said that “few challenges are more urgent than cancer” in Oklahoma and the support of the TSET grant will bring greater access to treatments and clinical trials.
“This is not a little satellite expansion,” he said. “This is a full fledged facility that will provide the range of services that patients can get here in Oklahoma City, including all these phases of clinical trials, so that patients across northeastern Oklahoma have the same opportunities for cutting edge life saving care.”
Julie Bisbee, executive director of TSET, said the group is able to award larger grants as the endowment has “matured” since its creation.
Oklahoma voters approved a constitutional amendment to create TSET in 2000, the only state to do so with the funds from a nationwide settlement agreement with tobacco companies. The entity oversees nearly $2 billion in public dollars and uses the endowment earnings to improve health outcomes in Oklahoma.
“The focus that we have with our legacy grants is on durable capacity, facilities, workforce, systems change that improve outcomes over time and help Oklahomans live healthier lives,” Bisbee said.
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