City: Oklahoma City, OK

Category: Health Care

Telephone: (405) 271-5600

Address: 1100 NE 10th St.

Description: Formed in 1907, the Oklahoma State Department of Health is Oklahoma’s health watch dog agency. Its purpose is to safeguard and further advance the health of Oklahoma citizens. By preventing disease and injuries, they make sure Oklahomans are as healthy as they can be. The organization is overseen by the State Board of Health and has nine members. The Governor appoints these members and then the Senate confirms them. The Board of Health appoints the commissioner of health.The central office in Oklahoma City provides technical and administrative guidance, as well as fiscal support, to 68 organized county health departments. At its administrative offices in Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma State Department of Health monitors nearly 70 diseases, conditions, and injuries that are reported to the agency. It performs thousands of laboratory examinations annually to confirm infectious, chronic, or genetic diseases. It also licenses several trades and professions such as nurses, construction workers, and food handlers, and it licenses and certifies long-term care facilities like nursing homes for participation in Medicare and Medicaid. More than 300,000 birth and death records are issued by the department each year. To learn about all the services and programs that the Oklahoma State Department of Health provides, visit the Web site.