OKLAHOMA CITY – Republican Governor Kevin Stitt’s plan to locate a pandemic center in Stillwater on the campus of Oklahoma State University is drawing both praise – and criticism – from members of the state legislature.
Announced on Oct. 7, the Oklahoma Pandemic Center for Innovation and Excellence would be located at OSU. A media statement about the center said the facility would be the first of its kind in the nation “at the intersection of agriculture, animal and human medicine, food safety, public health testing and preparedness.”
In addition, the state’s Public Health Lab would also be moved to Stillwater. Funding for both projects would come from both state funds and federal Coronavirus relief funds.
Stitt said the center would bring OSU, the University of Oklahoma, the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine and other public and private partners together. He said the Public Health Lab would “serve as a pillar of OPCIE and will include a human diagnostic-public health laboratory, a genetic biorepository and a multidisciplinary basic science lab for human, animal, plant and food-related bioterrorism research.”
“This center is going to make Oklahoma a Top 10 state in health care innovation and research, as the work completed here will lead global efforts in pandemic preparedness and other public health issues,” the governor said.
The plan was praised by some state and federal officials. State health commissioner Dr. Lance Frye said the integrated approach to public health, diagnostic capabilities and specimen collection would “become the gold standard for detecting, responding to and monitoring global health pandemics through the OPCIE.
“We believe this unique approach positions Oklahoma as a national and global leader in pandemic preparedness and research,” Frye said in a media statement.
However, several lawmakers – both Republicans and Democrats – questioned the move and said they were not consulted about plans to relocate the Public Health Lab.
State Senator Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, said the use of federal funds to build the lab has raised concerns in her district. Hicks said Oklahoma City, where the health lab is currently located, was home to “several major health systems and leading experts in the fields of medicine and science.”
Ryan Martinez, a Republican state representative from Edmond, said he would file legislation that would prevent the move. Martinez told Public Radio Tulsa that he was shocked when he heard the governor’s proposal.
“I can’t think of a time where such a big move for a state asset and taxpayer dollars were used for something without consulting the legislature, or even just talking about if this is a good or bad idea,” Martinez said.
The House’s Democratic leader, state Rep. Emily Virgin of Norman, said the governor should present his proposal to the legislature before the agency was moved.
“It is extremely rare for a single person, even a governor, to have the ability to unilaterally make the decision to close, remodel and rebuild a state asset, using millions of taxpayer dollars, without any direct input from the public or state employees who serve the agency,” Virgin said in a statement following the governor’s announcement. “It may be unprecedented in Oklahoma.”
The debate over both facilities comes at the same time the number of positive COVID-19 cases in Oklahoma has increased. On October 16, state health officials reported 105,308 Oklahomans had tested positive for the coronavirus. Of that figure, 89,815 had recovered while 14,339 cases remain active.
So far, 1,472 Sooner State residents have died from the disease.
Nationwide almost 8 million Americans have test positive for COVID-19, with about 3.1 million residents listed as recovered. More than half of the positive cases – 4.5 million – remain active.
As of Friday, 217,692 Americans had died from the disease.