The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) is a department of the government of Oklahoma under the supervision of the Oklahoma Secretary of Health. The department is responsible for protecting the health of all Oklahomans and providing other essential human services. The OSDH serves as the primary public health protection agency in the state. The department is led the State Commissioner of Health, who is appointed by the governor of Oklahoma with the approval of the Oklahoma Senate to serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The Commissioner is the executive officer of the department and is the lead public health authority in the state. To assist the Commissioner is the State Board of Health, composed of nine members appointed by the governor of Oklahoma with the approval of the Oklahoma Senate, which serves as advisory board to the Commissioner.

History

In 1920, governor James B. A. Robertson appointed Sallie Lewis Stephens Sturgeon as a public health inspector for the Oklahoma State Health Department, making her the first woman in the United States to hold such a position.

Leadership

The department is led by the Secretary of Health and the Commissioner of Health. Oklahoma law requires the Commissioner of Health to have professional expertise as any of the following: 1) an actively licensed physician (MD/DO), 2) a doctoral-level degree holder in public health or public health administration, 3) a masters' degree holder with a minimum of five years experience in administering health services. , under Governor of Oklahoma Kevin Stitt, Kevin Corbett serves as Cabinet Secretary (and CEO of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority) and Keith Reid, RN serves as the Interim Commissioner of Health. Reid succeeded Colonel Lance Frye, MD who also served under Governor Kevin Stitt from May 2020 until his resignation on October 25, 2021. OSDH's central office in Oklahoma City provides administrative oversight for the state's system of county health departments, which are overseen by regional administrators reporting to the State Commissioner.

State Board of Health

The State Board of Health is the governing body of the Health Department. The Board is composed of nine members appointed by the Governor of Oklahoma with the approval of the Oklahoma Senate. Each Board member serves a nine-year term. Eight of the nine members represent specific county regions of the state and one member is appointed to represent the state at large. , the Board is composed of the following members:

Organization

, the organization of the department is as follows:

Management and Finance

Staffing

The Health Department, with an annual budget of well over $300 million, is one of the largest employers of the State. For fiscal year 2014, the department was authorized 2,148 full-time employees.

Budget

The divisions of the department operation with the following operating budgets for Fiscal Year 2019:

Supporting Agencies