OSU Center for Rural Wellness awarded $three million grant

Thursday, March 16, 2023

Media Make contact with:
Sara Plummer | Communications Coordinator | 918-561-1282 | sara.plummer@okstate.edu

The OSU Center for Rural Wellness has been awarded $three million as aspect of a bigger Wellness
Equity grant awarded to the Oklahoma State Division of Wellness from the Centers for
Illness Handle and Prevention. 

The funding will be divided amongst 3 crucial places to boost and expand overall health care
in rural and underserved communities in Oklahoma. Around $1.four million will
fund scholarships for OSU Center for Wellness Sciences rural and tribal healthcare track
students and doctor assistant students. 

About $400,000 will be employed to obtain and deploy two cargo vans for telemedicine
and mobile overall health efforts in rural Oklahoma. The remaining funds will go toward neighborhood-primarily based
applications and partnerships with OSU Extension on nutrition, water high quality, and broadband
access initiatives. 

“The OSU Center for Rural Health’s mission is to boost the high quality of life for rural
and underserved Oklahomans,” stated Denna Wheeler, the center’s executive director.
“At the center we collaborate with state agencies, academic institutions, and rural
communities to address overall health inequity by means of a wide variety of grant funded applications
like rural hospital help, overall health care workforce improvement, telehealth technical
help and analysis.”

“At the center we collaborate with state agencies, academic institutions, and rural
communities to address overall health inequity by means of a wide variety of grant funded applications
like rural hospital help, overall health care workforce improvement, telehealth technical
help and analysis.”

– Denna Wheeler, OSU Center for Rural Wellness Executive Director

Not too long ago completed neighborhood overall health wants assessments highlighted gaps in standard public
solutions like access to clean drinking water and higher-speed broadband service
as nicely as a require for further emergency care education at compact rural and vital
access hospitals. 

The funding will also enable address overall health disparities amongst higher danger and historically
underserved populations in rural communities.

“OSU Center for Wellness Sciences is committed to enhancing access to high quality overall health
and public solutions for rural and underserved populations,” Wheeler stated. “We are
excited to perform collaboratively with OSU Extension, and state agencies like the Oklahoma
State Division of Wellness to implement neighborhood focused overall health equity initiatives.”

The Center for Rural Wellness was established in 2001 and is 1 of OSU-CHS’ Centers
of Excellence.