New Option For Behavioral Health Care Coming To Edmond
A new community behavioral health center is opening Friday in Edmond.
NorthCare is a community health agency in Oklahoma, and its new Edmond location will provide behavioral health services to the city’s residents, regardless of their ability to pay.
It will offer outpatient services and eventually serve in-crisis patients through an Urgent Recovery Center, which will open later this year.
Funding for the facility was made possible through local grants, donations and a grant Northcare received through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Northcare will receive $1 million annually over four years through the grant, which was part of an effort from the Biden administration to expand community health services.
NorthCare’s CEO Randy Tate said the agency looks forward to serving Edmond residents.
Oklahoma County Commissioners Press OKC City Council for Swift Action on Rezoning for New Jail
Oklahoma County commissioners are urging the OKC City Council to vote on rezoning plans for 1901 E Grand Blvd. to make way for the new Oklahoma County Jail.
Frustrated by delays, commissioners Wednesday said they need the city council to vote on the rezoning request soon or risk losing funds for the project.
"We need the city council to move as quickly as possible so that we either have a yes or a no on this site, because we are at risk of losing $50 million in federal ARPA money, specifically $40 million for our behavioral health center," said District 1 Commissioner Carrie Blumert.
Commissioners say they feel city council members are dragging their feet due to significant opposition to the site.
The city of Del City is preparing to sue Oklahoma County over the proposed location that would border the community.
Commissioners say they are still looking at other possible sites that were previously on the list, however those locations were not disclosed.
State Parks Are Crumbling. Oklahoma Lawmakers Pitch 8-year Maintenance Plan
Oklahoma’s state parks are in an infrastructure crisis.
State lawmakers are advancing a plan to make hundreds of millions of dollars in maintenance repairs to state parks.
The nonprofit news outlet Oklahoma Voice reports leaking roofs, failing water systems and even cave-ins are preventing people from using various features of the state’s parks.
House Bill 3972 would fix that. It creates an eight-year maintenance plan and pumps $350 million dollars into fixing the problems across the state.
Lawmakers are also considering a plan to prevent infrastructure issues in the future, by increasing the budget for parks’ capital maintenance funding from $10 million to $50 million, based on available funds.
The bill can now be heard in the Senate after overwhelmingly clearing the House.
Oklahoma City Service For People Who Died While Homeless
Oklahoma City’s annual memorial for people who died while experiencing homelessness will be held on Saturday.
The Oklahoman newspaper reports the service will be held at the Homeless Alliance day shelter at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 23.
The service was first held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in 2018 and took place at different houses of worship in the following years.
Homeless Alliance executive director Dan Straughan said the change was made so those currently experiencing homelessness and utilizing the day shelter’s services will have an easier time attending.
Sixty-four people will be memorialized at the service.
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