TAHLEQUAH —
Later this month, NeoHealth board members will consider appointees for three newly-created board slots, but perhaps more importantly, they’ll be looking at four candidates for the chief executive officer position.
Several well-qualified people are on the short lists for these posts, but an impressive resume isn’t the only consideration.
When it comes to this unique multi-county health care entity, the motive for serving is just as important as the ability to do it.
The Northeastern Oklahoma Community Health Center – now NeoHealth – was incorporated Dec. 3, 2001, but the seeds were planted in the mid-1990s, when visionary individuals with the Cherokee County Community Health Coalition saw a need for affordable health care for low-income families.
Many area residents – especially in Hulbert – took part in the drive to create the NeoHealth system. When the state Legislature in July 2001 created the Oklahoma Center for Rural Development at NSU, the pump was primed to grow new businesses, including what ultimately became NeoHealth.
Local lawmakers and community leaders have played key roles in helping establish a strong foundation, and NeoHealth has continued to thrive, adding vital services such as OB/GYN, pediatrics and most recently, pharmacy services.
Clinics are now located in Adair, Cherokee and Muskogee counties, with patients coming in from six surrounding counties.
But here’s the rub: NeoHealth is a nonprofit organization. Its mission is to provide care to folks in mostly rural areas, where health care sources might be limited, or where the people who need those services might not be able to pay for them. The sliding-scale fee assessment for NeoHealth has been a boon for the area’s most vulnerable families.
It’s easy to see why some people, and even other health care establishments, might feel somewhat threatened by NeoHealth.
A medical facility that must balance attention to its bottom line with the well-being of patients is part and parcel of a market-driven economy, but the pesky presence of a clinic that offers those same services at a far lower cost is a challenge some businesses wouldn’t like to face.
Northeastern Oklahoma residents have a legitimate reason to worry that NeoHealth could be subsumed by another business, entity or board, thereby losing its unique character and original mission. Sometimes businesses that want to crush their competition do so with hostile takeovers or outright purchase; other times, they can accomplish their goals subtly with a velvet glove, working from the inside-out.
Those who care about service to others should stay vigilant, and speak out to other board members, to ensure this doesn’t happen.
NeoHealth serves a critical niche in Northeastern Oklahoma – especially in Cherokee County and the neighboring region.
Any maneuvering that would put it under the control of another system might not just be disastrous for the many lower-income people it serves: It could create the kind of monopoly that strips individuals of their cherished health care choices. A good place to start: http://www.neohealth.org.
Those who are selected for these important positions should be committed to NeoHealth, its mission, and the lower-income people it serves.
They should also be committed to Neo’s independence from other private interests, because serving two masters is a practical impossibility.
Editorials
Vital NeoHealth mission needs to stay intact
- Editorials
-
-
Phone record debacle an insult to press
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
-
Punishing the animal dumpers
Animal dumping is not a problem unique to Cherokee County, but anyone who’s been keeping up with current events for the past decade or so will acknowledge it’s especially prevalent here.
-
Openness on AG the right course
It takes courage to admit to a serious mistake or a personal lapse, especially when the nature of the situation may call for a public mea culpa.
-
Legislative action not encouraging
It’s outrageous to advance the argument that it’s “fair” for Chesapeake Oil to wind up with a negative tax bill – lower than the average Oklahoman paid last year. Yet that’s precisely the message some of that company’s protectors in the state Legislature are trying to convey.
-
Cast your ballot for ‘At Its Best’
May has arrived, and that means folks will be relishing their upcoming trips over the Memorial Day weekend to Lake Tenkiller and the Illinois River. Before that, families with 12th-graders in their households will be making plans to watch their children make the monumental transition that graduation brings.
-
Corporations shouldn’t have ‘people’ status
Since the Supreme Court made its fateful 2010 decision in the Citizens United case, most Americans have come to agree with the cynical statement that “corporations aren’t people.” And most Americans – except that tiny fraction who wield all the power – would approve of a constitutional amendment to make it tougher to buy a congressman.
-
Anti-texting bill still needs look
A bill that would have banned texting while driving was shot down for the third and presumably final time this legislative session, and we can’t say we’re surprised.
-
Red Fern a great family fun event
By the time many of you read this, you’ll already be just hours away from milling around, or kicking back in your lawn chairs, at Norris Park. Some of you might already be downtown before your paper arrives.
-
Progress set to print Sunday
Sporadic readers will want to pick up a copy of the Sunday, April 21 Daily Press. It will contain the first “wave” of our annual Progress edition.
-
Faking ‘evidence’ hurts their case
Sometimes activists, in their determined attempts to advance cherished causes, can do more harm than good. That’s what could be happening in the case of the pit bulldog killed with an arrow by a local high school student.
- More Editorials Headlines
-
Phone record debacle an insult to press
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash
NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital
Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest
Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting
CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest
NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor
Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool
Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids
Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree
Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics
Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday
Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge
Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel?
Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot
Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction
Officials: Texas Tornado Likely Had 200 Mph Wind
Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting
