OKLAHOMA CITY — Governor Kevin Stitt recently announced Tom Bates will lead a new initiative by the Governor’s office titled “Front Porch” to better integrate services provided by Oklahoma’s state health and human services agencies.
“As I’ve looked at how we serve Oklahomans, I’ve seen how hard we’ve made it for them to engage with us,” said Tom Bates.
“Around the state, we make Oklahomans go to multiple offices and multiple web sites just to get the services they are entitled to, and it’s all very confusing. We’ve got to stop giving people the runaround.
“It’s not how you’d run a business, and it’s not how we should run state government. Moving to a more integrated, customer-centric approach will be transformative for our state,” he said.
As part of “Front Porch,” Bates will be developing a plan to simplify and streamline the ways Oklahomans interact with health and human services agencies by working with the Governor’s cabinet and the directors of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, the Department of Health, the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, the Department of Human Services, and the Office of Juvenile Affairs, among others.
Bates will continue to serve as Interim Commissioner at the State Department of Health laboratories, and he knows how to get things done,” said John Budd, Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the Governor.
Bates joined the Department of Health after accounting challenges led to an unnecessary $30 million supplemental appropriation, which was returned to the legislature this year in the FY20 budgeting process.
In his 17 months at the agency, Bates worked to rebuild the agency’s trust with legislators and other stakeholders in the face of the accounting challenge, while also realigning the organization to provide more focus on health- care outcomes and develop the state’s approach to managing its medical marijuana program.