NEW: Single mom Andee Cooper waited 11 years for her son's Medicaid waiver, which pays for in-home care for Kannon who has daily seizures and cognitive impairment. Five months after her waiver was approved, she's still without the help she needs.
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Whitney Bryen
@SoonerReporter
Sooner armed with a journalism degree. Investigative reporter for . Want to share a tip or story? DMs open or email wbryen@oklahomawatch.org.
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Turn Key is the company who was responsible for the mental and medical care of two women who died awaiting mental health evaluations at the Cleveland County jail. Here's the story I wrote back in February about Turn Key's fraught past: oklahomawatch.org/2023/02/21/she
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FOX 25 INVESTIGATES: MEDICAL CARE IN PRISON
One of the biggest medical service providers to inmates in Oklahoma is facing more than a dozen federal lawsuits.
Turn Key Health Clinics is accused of failing to provide medical care.
Watch Thursday at 9pm on @OKCFOX
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1/ If you read my latest story on the expected May 1 opening of the , you're probably wondering about its status. Here is a little update:
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Shannon Hanchett. Kathryn Milano. Bennie Edwards. Daniel Hobbs. Ronald Given. All we’re experiencing a mental health crisis when police arrived. All of them ended up dead. An OSBI investigation examination details the treatment of Oklahomans in crisis.
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A third person incarcerated at the Oklahoma County jail has died, marking 3 deaths since Friday. Amber Owens died at the hospital where she took a fell while waiting to be moved to another medical facility, according to a statement from jail officials.
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INBOX: Yesterday, another person detained at the Oklahoma County jail died. Frank Ramirez, 37, was found “in distress,” according to a statement from jail officials. He was arrested on suspicion of gang-related charges, robbery and felon in possession of a firearm. twitter.com/SoonerReporter…
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INBOX: Yesterday, another person detained at the Oklahoma County jail died. Frank Ramirez, 37, was found “in distress,” according to a statement from jail officials. He was arrested on suspicion of gang-related charges, robbery and felon in possession of a firearm.
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INBOX: Another person incarcerated at the Oklahoma County jail has died. Courtenay Doyle who was arrested March 13 on drug charges was found unresponsive in her cell early this morning, according to a statement from officials. The cause of death is unknown.
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INBOX: Another person incarcerated at the Oklahoma County jail has died. Courtenay Doyle who was arrested March 13 on drug charges was found unresponsive in her cell early this morning, according to a statement from officials. The cause of death is unknown.
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Following the deaths of two incarcerated women, Cleveland County officials agreed to pay more taxpayer funds to its jail healthcare provider, Turn Key Health. Here's my story about how much the county is paying the healthcare provider now. oklahomawatch.org/2023/02/21/she
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The latest on Turn Key, the company responsible for the healthcare of two women who died in December awaiting mental health evaluations in the Cleveland County jail. According to @Newsweek, 160 lawsuits have been filed against the company since 2015.
newsweek.com/private-health
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The latest on Turn Key, the company responsible for the healthcare of two women who died in December awaiting mental health evaluations in the Cleveland County jail. According to , 160 lawsuits have been filed against the company since 2015.
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Those wages are determined by state appropriations. Part of last year’s $32.5 million investment went to a 25% raise for caregivers of people with disabilities. Many say, it’s still not enough and low pay is contributing to a statewide (nationwide really) worker shortage.
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A rep from a Tulsa based nonprofit that hires out aides who care for people with disabilities said they pay in-home workers $10.66/hour and $12.50 in facilities for people with disabilities. In researching my recent story, I found that Costco pays $15/hour to answer phones.
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Bill, whose adult son Bryce has a disability, said he was denied 3x for a waiver that supports his son living on his own. I’ve heard from several parents that this waiver is difficult to get compared to the in-home waiver that provides help for people living with their guardian.
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I’m at the Capitol today listening in on a last-minute meeting providing updates on the state’s 13-year wait for disability services. Last month, celebrated progress that followed a historic $32.5 million by lawmakers. But problems persist. More 👉 oklahomawatch.org/2023/03/28/aft
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Really helpful thread here on the OU emergency notification about a possible shooter on campus. I just heard “so far we have no shots fired and no victims,” on the scanner.
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Just said “so far no victims no suspect description.”
Officers and still sweeping the campus but hopefully it really is a hoax
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If you're willing to share a story about a loved one who is receiving, has received or is waiting on competency restoration, which is what the Dept. of Mental Health calls care for people found incompetent to stand trial, please reach out. /end
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The spokesman said the dept. was unaware of the claim filed today, which accuses the department of violating state open record laws. Here's a link to the full petition in case you're an open records nerd like me and want to give it a read. 3/
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Last month, and I wrote about a class action lawsuit filed by the same firm against the Dept. of Mental Health alleging that at least 100 Oklahomans found incompetent to stand trial aren’t receiving the mental health care they’re owed. 2/
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NEW: A lawsuit filed today in Tulsa County District Court alleges the Dept. of Mental Health hid or falsified info about how many incarcerated Oklahomans found incompetent to stand trial are waiting for mental health treatment and how long they’ve been waiting. 1/
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“We will never move the needle in criminal justice until we move the needle on addiction.” Judge Kenneth Stoner speaking at event. Here’s a story I wrote about Judge Stoner’s drug court in Oklahoma County. oklahomawatch.org/2022/03/25/a-d
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An Oklahoma mother says Blue Cross Blue Shield won't cover treatment for her eating disorder after the insurance company deemed it medically necessary leaving the mother with nearly $70,000 in bills. via
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🧵 Speaker Charles McCall last Thursday said "Republican members do not receive any special treatment over minority members of the House," regarding public reprimands. My latest for / shows how that's not true:
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And that's 👆 just a list of my stories from the past year that benefitted, or in some cases wouldn't have happened, without public documents.
What's the best story you've read recently that made use of public information?
#FOIA #SunshineWeek
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8. did provide body cam footage (which is public) of an arrest that showed officers heckling a woman in the throes of a mental health crisis. The department refused to release the incident report, which is also public. I'm suing to get record.
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7. Grant reports (you guessed it, those are public) also revealed that federal agencies awarded nearly $1.5 million to an Oklahoma nonprofit after auditors found that the organization mishandled $886,000. oklahomawatch.org/2022/05/23/des
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6. A federal audit, yes those are public records, revealed that money intended to support Oklahoma domestic abuse shelters, crisis centers and victims was instead spent on employee and board member vacations.
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5. Public COVID-19 data from the feds showed that Oklahoma was underreporting deaths of nursing home residents and staff by at least 537 people.
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4. Federal grant applications, budget reports and tax forms (all public records) showed the lack of oversight at a nonprofit that was supposed to use millions in public funds to address the health of Native American women. Here's what happened instead.
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3. Lawsuits, arrest reports and county contracts painted a picture of the OKC company responsible for the medical and mental health of incarcerated Oklahomans, including three people detained in the Cleveland County jail who have died since December.
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2. An altercation with detention officers led to the death of Ronald Given, a Kiowa man who suffered from mental illness. Pottawatomie County refused to release the jail video until a court sided with who sued over the violation.
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🧵I've been so wrapped up in the fight for public records this #SunshineWeek that I almost forgot to remind you why I care so much, and why you should too. Here's a thread of stories made possible by public inf.
1. Lawsuits are public record.
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leave. I left my cell but haven’t heard back. This isn’t my first issue with open records violations in Tulsa.👇 This is unacceptable. These are your records. The law says you have a right to that info. I’m not giving up! #SunshineWeek
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I did in order to get the information I needed and have a legal right to obtain. I went to the attorney’s office to see if we could quickly clear this problem up but he wasn’t there and after being told someone would come speak to me, no one did and I was asked to
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argued, citing the law and was still told no. So I said I’d just take down a few notes and was again told no. The public record remained hidden behind her back. I was told I would only be allowed to look at the public record if I placed my phone in my pocket and zipped it, which
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she finally brought the report for me to inspect. When I pulled my phone out to take a photo of it, I was told no and the document was taken away. She hid the document (a public record) behind her back and explained that was against the rules. It’s not, according to state law. I
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told that would cost me 50 cents. I explained that I didn’t want a copy of it, just to see it and then return it. “We don’t do that,” the woman behind the counter told me. I asked for a supervisor. After listening to her grumble for about 5 minutes about my inconvenient request
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It’s #SunshineWeek which is about celebrating access to public information. In light of that, let me tell you a story about my trip to Tulsa yesterday. I went to the records counter to inspect an arrest report, a public record according to the Open Records act. I was
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