Oklahoma Department of Corrections announces million-dollar investment to recruit medical professionals 

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - KFOR recently reported on the hospital layoffs looming in Oklahoma. 

Combined, Integris Health and OU Health are eliminating 300 positions, but hope may be on the horizon. The department of corrections announced a six-million-dollar investment to recruit medical professionals.     

"The timing on this is just coincidental," said Josh Ward with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. "This plan has been in the works for a while."

DOC is looking for nurse managers, RNs, LPNs, physicians and lab techs for positions throughout the state.

"With the $6 million reinvestment, we're able to increase wages to be more competitive, sometimes eclipsing what the private sector is paying," said Ward. 

The push is timely. In the past ten days, OU Health and Integris blame a dramatic rise in expenses over the past couple of years.

"We all have financial challenges due to the reeling effect of the pandemic," said Patti Davis with the Oklahoma Hospital Association. "We are not recovered as an industry, and we are not."

Hospitals are no longer getting aid from the federal government for COVID, but medical centers are still treating COVID patients, which is not cheap.

But at the DOC, it's a different story. This six-million-dollar investment comes from rollover cash from its operating funds.

"One of the things that we have to do in the facilities is taken care of the health needs of our inmates," said Ward. "There's a need for caregivers and facilities as well. It's a secure work environment."

Anyone interested in applying, please get in touch with David Edelman at (405) 425-2189 or Justin Tate at (405) 425-2957