State funds cut for 3 mental health service providers in Tulsa County | News

TULSA COUNTY, Okla. — The Oklahoma Department of Management and Enterprise Services cut state funds from three Tulsa County mental health providers.

On Thursday, CREOKS, GRAND Mental Health and Family & Children’s Services received emails from the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) stating their contract would be terminated and funding would be cut.

The news came as a shock to all three services, and now they’re left with questions wondering how they move forward after the sudden notice.

The effective date for the termination and fund cuts is May 10.

See the letters to all three mental health service providers here:

FOX23 spoke with the mental health service providers about how this could affect their services moving forward.

Josh Cantwell, CEO at GRAND Mental Health, said the notice came as a complete shock as they weren’t informed about the actions being taken.

“Our initial reaction was just the fear of the uncertainty for the people that we’re serving, so we know when it came out and it came out not just about us, but the other two providers, that huge gap in care is going to lead to some pretty outrageous negative outcomes,” he said.

Now, the three service providers are worried about their patients getting the mental health care they need.

“There’s going to be increased overdoses, there’s going to be deaths that would occur with people losing their mental health care, so for us it’s just about having those conversations, collaborating and figuring out what we can do to ensure that those cancellations don’t go to effect,” Cantwell said.

Chris Posey with Family &  Children’s Services said they were never given a reason as to why the state decided to cut their funds or terminate their contract.

“At this point, all we can do is wait to hear what the answer to those questions are and how this thing is going to resolve itself, but we do firmly believe that it is going to resolve itself,” Posey said.

Cantwell and Posey both said the focus is on the patients who need the help first.

“Every day right now, it’s business as usual,” Cantwell said. “We’re going to be providing services. There will be no disruption to services right now and hopefully we’ll have more information soon to be able to make decision.”

“The people who we serve, just keep coming out and seeking our services because it’s not going away,” Posey said. “We just want to take care of the folks in Tulsa.”

GRAND Mental Health said they’ll be staying in contact with ODMHSAS to get more answers and to hopefully make the state reconsider their decision.

“The communications, the negotiations, whatever it takes to keep that from happening,” Cantwell said. “We’re hopeful that there’s going to be a resolution where this doesn’t come to fruition, but we’re really having to plan for the worst.”

Brent Black, CEO at CREOKS, sent FOX23 the following statement:

“It’s important that the community know that we will continue to provide high-quality care to the Oklahomans who need our services. We are in regular communication with the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and feel confident that there will be a positive path forward. From a day-to-day operations perspective, nothing has changed. Our clients count on expert care which we will deliver with compassion and respect.”

FOX23 reached out to the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) asking why the decision was made.

Allie Friesen, Commissioner of ODMHSAS, sent FOX23 the following statement:

“As we navigate these complex and concerning contracting issues, our priority remains clear: protecting access to care for Oklahomans who depend on these services,” Friesen stated. “We are grateful to the Governor for recognizing the critical importance of ensuring a clear path forward for uninterrupted critical mental health services across the state and are grateful for his reiteration that we are not and will not terminate any core service contracts.”

“We understand the confusion caused by recent events and are working closely with OMES and our community partners to implement a contractual stopgap,” the statement said. “This issue is entirely unrelated to funding gaps or contract optimization. Our commitment to delivering high-quality behavioral health services remains strong as we work toward lasting solutions and operational excellence.”