Awards will recognize Champions of Health in Tulsa

The Tulsa County Recycled Medication Program will be honored as the Community Health Champion and recipient of the 2009 Dr. Rodney L. Huey Memorial Champion of Oklahoma Health award, the highest honor of the Champions of Health awards.

The award and others will be presented at the 2009 Champions of Health Awards Banquet at 7 p.m. Nov. 17 at the Renaissance Tulsa Hotel and Convention Center. The event reunites Oklahoma State University President Burns Hargis as keynote speaker with attorney and "Flash Point” political talk show co-host Mike Turpen as emcee.

"Congratulations to this year’s winners and to all who participated in the Champions of Health awards. All are winners for the work they are doing to improve the health and welfare of Oklahomans,” Hargis said. "I am honored to help recognize these health leaders at this year’s awards banquet.”

The recycled medication program is a partnership between Tulsa County Social Services, the Tulsa County Medical Society, 27 retired volunteer physicians and the Tulsa County Pharmacy. It was the first program in the nation to legally "recycle” unused prescription drugs from long-term care facilities to charity clinics.

As Champion of Oklahoma Health, the recycled medication program receives a grant of $2,500. Four other champions also will be honored and each awarded a $1,000 contribution to their organization or program.

The Champion of the Uninsured award goes to Crossings Community Clinic in Oklahoma City. The clinic offers medical care, dentistry, eye care and counseling services. The clinic sees more than 450 patients each month.

The Champion of Senior Health is Dr. James Pletcher, a psychiatrist and chief of staff for Integris Baptist Regional Health Center in Miami, OK. He also serves as medical director at Betty Ann Nursing Center in Grove. Pletcher meets with patients in smaller towns to keep their medications adjusted to avoid hospitalizations.

The Champion of Children’s Health is the Margaret Hudson Program in Tulsa. The program works to educate pregnant and parenting teens as well as their families to be healthy, self-sufficient, contributing members of the community.

The Corporate Health Champion is Oklahoma State University’s Seretean Wellness Center. The center has a vision to make OSU the healthiest campus in America by providing a variety of health and wellness programs to faculty, staff and students. Cowboys on the Move, a Web site designed to get the campus moving, was launched in 2009.

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