Quotes of the Day

“I’ve lived here my whole life, and the creeks I always played on when I was a kid, they don’t run anymore. [Lake] Tom Steed is the life and the blood of southwest Oklahoma. Right now we’re providing 100 percent of the water to Altus. We’re providing over half of the water supply to Frederick. We’re providing, I think, about half the water supply to Snyder.”

– Lake Tom Steed manager Will Archer. Current projections suggest Lake Tom Steed will be depleted by 2016 without intervention. (Source: n.pr/1G5b8TK)

“This will go down as one of the greatest days in the history of the modern Cherokee Nation. Our partnership with IHS will improve the health outcomes of Cherokees for the next two to three generations and beyond. It’s a proud, proud day in the Cherokee Nation.”

-Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker, speaking about a new agreement that will bring in hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government to fund a new hospital in Tahlequah (Source: http://bit.ly/1u6wz1P)

“We’ve ignored these families for generations.”

– OU Sociologist Dr. Susan Sharp, speaking about Oklahoma’s high rate of female incarceration (first in the US). Sharp says that women who are incarcerated in Oklahoma usually meet one or more of three criteria: a poverty-stricken background, relationships with men engaged in criminal behavior, and a history of being abused (Source:bit.ly/1AOpNwL).

“We are very supportive of Gov. Fallin trying to improve the state health outcomes and we will be happy to work with her, but I think what we’re waiting for is a real political will to tackle the specifics.”

– Oklahoma Hospital Association President Craig Jones, reacting to Governor Fallin’s promise to address public health issues in her second term (Source: bit.ly/1Aa493p)

“I want everybody to really let those figures soak in. That we are at 116 percent in state beds, but we are funded for 67 percent in staffing. That is a, well, it’s a formula for disaster, as we all know who are sitting in this room.”

-Oklahoma Board of Corrections member Linda Neal, speaking about the crisis in Oklahoma’s state prisons. Prisons going so far over capacity could give the state Parole Board the authority to consider early parole for some inmates (Source: http://bit.ly/1C7OuUL).

“Extremists are extremists in any religion. People forget the history, even in our own country, less than 100 years ago we had the Ku Klux Klan, which looks a lot like ISIS.” 

Adam Soltani, CAIR-OK Executive Director

“This will be a year that requires sacrifice from those who utilize the services that state government was initially intended to provide.”

-Oklahoma House Speaker Jeff Hickman, discussing an impending $300 million budget shortfall caused by falling gas prices, loss of one-time funds, and a tax cut scheduled for next year (Source: http://bit.ly/1DyM0Qn)

“(We) still only reach about one-third of Oklahomans who need help, and when you look at the gap — when you separate it between adults and children, and mental health and addiction — the single biggest gap is substance abuse treatment for our youth. So if you’re a mom or dad in Oklahoma whose teenager is struggling, it is heartbreakingly hard to find help.”

– State mental health and substance abuse commissioner Terri White, discussing difficulties connecting people in need of help to treatment. A new report from the CDC ranks Oklahoma 11th in deaths from alcohol poisoning. (Source: bit.ly/1xCYfuC)

“The sad truth is many of our inmates are non-violent offenders with substance abuse problems or mental health issues. They don’t need to spend long stints at the state penitentiary, where they can join gangs and acquire criminal networks. They need treatment; they need supervision; and they need to be returned to their communities ready to safely support themselves and their families. “

-Governor Mary Fallin, who said one of her New Year’s resolutions this year is to reduce Oklahoma’s very high incarceration rate (Source: http://bit.ly/1AAuYBF)

“That 70 percent would qualify for Medicaid tomorrow if Oklahoma accepted Medicaid expansion. This population consists of the working poor, and they find themselves in a Twilight Zone: They make too little to get coverage from one source of insurance, and they make too much to get coverage from the other available source. All the while our state leaders sit on their hands hoping fervently that this whole health care thing goes away. This passive-aggressive state posture simply cannot go on. There are ways to address issues of public responsibility, and we seem to have lost the willingness to try.”

-Morton Comprehensive Health Services CEO John M. Silva, who said Oklahoma lawmakers’ decision to slash the uncompensated care fund while continuing to refuse federal dollars to expand Medicaid is forcing his clinics to severely reduce services and stop accepting new uninsured patients, who likely have nowhere else to go (Source: http://bit.ly/1wPVbWN).