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TULSA WORLD
Sunday, February 23, 2020 O5
OUTLOOK2020 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Tulsa takes aim at reducing life-expectancy gap City looks to eliminate barriers that keep some people out of the workforce By Kevin Canfield Tulsa World
It’s tempting to begin this story on economic development in Tulsa with a few numbers. Unemployment is low, after all. And new construction is booming. But as Kian Kamas, the city’s chief of economic development, would tell you, the numbers don’t mean much if they’re not leading to better lives for Tulsans. “Ultimately, the work that we do funnels down to the lives of families and children throughout Tulsa,” she said. “And if what we’re doing is not positively benefiting the lives of families and children, then we kind of need to rethink our strategy.”
An artist rendering depicts the 11-story, 260,000-square-foot headquarters that WPX is building in the Tulsa Arts District. Courtesy
Kamas and her staff do have a strategy, and it hinges on one number: 10.6. That is the number of years fewer that a person residing in north Tulsa’s 74126 ZIP code
can expect to live than a person in the 74137 ZIP code in south Tulsa, according to 2016 figures. In 2020, Kamas said, the city plans to focus its efforts on reducing that number. Several
strategies will be in play, including working to eliminate the barriers that continue to keep some people out of the workforce. But no effort has the potential to move the needle more than helping attract and maintain businesses that can provide well-paying jobs, Kamas said. “That is, I think, just incredibly important as we think of closing the life-expectancy gap — making sure that people are earning wages that can support a family and that can make sure that they have a quality of lifestyle that they can have access to safe and affordable housing,” she said. The city will also examine its development incentives to ensure that the projects it supports help achieve the goal of decreasing the life-expectancy gap.
“We are really trying to think through how can the projects that we work on or the way that we align our staff really shift that (life-expectancy) reality,” she said. In 2019, the valuation of building projects permitted by the city reached $3.1 billion. The year before, the valuation was about half that amount. “Not included in that $3.1 billion last year is the building permit for WPX, or the building permit for The View, or the building permit for the grocery store development across from the PAC, or the Muncie Power Products at 36th (Street) and Peoria (Avenue),” Kamas said. “We feel confident momentum will continue well into 2020.” Kevin Canfield 918-645-5452 kevin.canfield @tulsaworld.com Twitter: @aWorldofKC
HEALTH CARE
Universities help fill holes in coverage
The OSU Center for Health Sciences also operates an addiction clinic in midtown Tulsa. Tulsa World file
OU, OSU are working to facilitate access to care for underserved Tulsans By Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton For the Tulsa World
It might take a minute, but the doctor will see you now. Hillcrest Health System, St. John Health System and Saint Francis Health System are still among the city’s largest employers. However, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration still classifies Tulsa, like almost all of Oklahoma, as a Health Professional Shortage Area, or one that does not have at least one primary care provider for every 3,500 residents. With more than 1,500 primary care providers across the Tulsa metro area, the shortage
is not as acute compared to the more rural communities. However, it has helped shape efforts from the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University to fill in the coverage gaps. The OU-TU School of Community Medicine at OU-Tulsa’s Schusterman Campus is working to facilitate access to care for underserved Tulsans through its Community Health Clinic program. Launched in 2003, the Community Health Clinic includes an evening walk-in clinic and a longitudinal clinic for chronically ill patients. All services, including lab and radiology, are available for free and are funded exclusively through private donations. According to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Oklahoma’s drug overdose rate is 20.1
per 100,000 residents. With that figure slowly climbing due to alcohol, methamphetamine and illegal opioids, such as heroin and fentanyl, the OSU Center for Health Sciences now operates an addiction clinic in midtown Tulsa. Co-located at 6333 E. Skelly Drive with 12 & 12, the state’s largest comprehensive community addiction resource center, the outpatient clinic offers individualized, evidence-based outpatient treatment for multiple forms of addiction and mental health services for adults. The facility operates in partnership with Minnesota-based Hazeldon Betty Ford Foundation, the country’s largest nonprofit addiction treatment provider. With almost the entire state still considered a Mental Health Professional Shortage Area by the Health Resources and Services Administration,
OSU Center for Health Sciences received an additional $250,000 grant in January from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma to research the effectiveness of telehealth for treating addiction. “We admire Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma’s leadership in expanding access to addiction treatment services,” said Dr. Kayse Shrum, president of OSU Center for Health Sciences and dean of the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine. “This major investment will allow us to reach more Oklahomans who are struggling with addiction and who would benefit immensely from the expertise at OSU Medicine. We appreciate our continued partnership with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma.” OSU Center for Health Sciences is also taking steps to address the shortage of primary
PARTNERS IN PROGRESS
care providers through a partnership with the Cherokee Nation. When it opens in August with 50 students, the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine at Cherokee Nation will be the first tribally affiliated medical school on tribal land in the country. Located at W.W. Hastings Hospital, the new 84,000-squarefoot medical school’s teaching space will include an anatomy laboratory, a clinical skills lab, an osteopathic manipulative medicine lab, standardized patient labs, three lecture halls and a state-of-the-art simulation center. “We know there’s a doctor shortage in Oklahoma,” Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said. “We know across the country, particularly in rural areas, it is difficult to recruit and retain doctors.”
