Tuesday July 2, 2024
Media Contact: Terry Tush | Director of Marketing and Communications | 405-744-2703 | terry.tush@okstate.edu
The Oklahoma State University Center for Health Systems Innovation and the Oklahoma Public Health Institute awarded $43,000 in prizes to the winners of the Rural Health Innovation Challenge on June 20 at OSU Tulsa’s Tandy Medical Center.
Participating teams each brought a problem affecting their community’s quest for health and presented an innovative solution to a panel of judges. Teams were tasked with helping implement the solutions developed by the winners. Innovation competition participants competed for the best ideas to solve problems in four key categories: cardiovascular and community health, diabetes and obesity, mental health and addiction, and social determinants of health.
The grand prize was $10,000. The top four winners in each category won $4,000, $2,500, $1,000 and $250 respectively, with $500 awarded to the best data, young innovator, health equity star and people’s choice. The winners in each category are:
Diabetes and Obesity Group
1. A Table in the Wilderness ($4,000). They have created an engaging program that is changing the way people eat, which in turn is transforming their health.
2. The Virtue Center (Health Equity Star)
3. Logan County Partnership
4. Lawton Farmers Market
5. Collective roots
Mental Health and Addiction Group
1. Rural Health Projects ($14,000 – Grand Champion). They created a pilot program to improve the effectiveness of improving the health and well-being of caregivers, who play a critical role in access to and quality of care for the people they care for.
2. National Center on Sexual Behavior
3. Okie Outfitters (People’s Choice)
4. Resilient Payne County
5. Oklahoma School Safety Institute
6. Oklahoma Rural Health Network (Young Innovator)
Social Drivers of Health Group
1. Panhandle Cares Association ($4,000) Created a program to improve access to hygiene products, often overlooked for basic health reasons.
2. OK Turning Point Council
3. Tulsa Vintage Pantry
4. Center for Children and Families
5. Community Action Agency
Cardiology and Community Group
1. Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma Perkins Family Clinic (Young Innovator) $4,000. Their after-school program will aim to increase health literacy and promote health equity.
2. Northwest Oklahoma Osteopathic Foundation
3. School of Chemical Engineering – OSU (Best Use of Data)
4. Oklahoma Rural Health Association – Rural Research Poster Contest
5. Metriarch
6. Oklahoma Public Health Association – The Political Chasm
“A third of our state’s population lives in rural areas; the health of this population greatly impacts the availability and cost of care in Oklahoma, which impacts all of us,” said Dr. Marjorie Erdmann, director of OSU’s CHSI. “Programs like RHIC give people the opportunity to raise awareness of the work they do, telling their stories to people who may be able to help them with funding and support outside of this competition. The connections participants make during this competition are invaluable.”
“The high level of community participation and success of this event has caught the attention of health officials in other states. Several states have reached out to us asking for information and advice on how to recreate this type of event in their region. This is a great example of how inspiring passionate people to create innovative solutions accelerates the transformation of rural communities.”
“We meet people where the need is greatest and help rural communities find better, more permanent access to quality health care,” said Jill Hazeldine, executive director of the Oklahoma Institute for Public Health. “These communities are doing important work, and we support that work with financial support and open exchanges of ideas.”
Cash prizes awarded to winners come from sponsors including Aetna Better Health of Oklahoma, Humana Healthy Horizons in Oklahoma, Oklahoma State Department of Health, Choctaw Nation, OSU Medical Center, Oklahoma Complete Health and Grail.
