Governor Stitt announces hospital surge plan for COVID-19

GOVERNOR STITT, GOVERNOR’S SOLUTION TASK FORCE ANNOUNCE HOSPITAL SURGE PLAN FOR COVID-19

OKLAHOMA CITY (April 10, 2020) – Governor Kevin Stitt today announced a comprehensive hospital surge plan, which is designed to ensure Oklahoma is fully prepared to handle any surge in demand on the State’s hospital and health care systems as a result of COVID-19.

“I want Oklahomans to know that we are prepared, and we’ll be ready for whatever comes our way with the COVID pandemic,” said Gov. Stitt. “Our comprehensive plan ensures Oklahoma will be in good shape on total hospital beds, ICU beds and ventilators, even if we are faced with the worst-case scenario. The Hospital Surge Plan leverages Oklahoma’s 8-region trauma system, which has effectively served our rural communities for years, and it also brings into play the Trauma Transfer and Referral Centers (TReC) system which will serve as ‘air traffic control’ for the movement of COVID-19 patients to care centers. As part of the Hospital Surge Plan, the State also accesses 54 telehealth units, which will be deployed to a majority of Oklahoma counties to enhance treatment of COVID-19 patients in rural communities.”

The IHME model, which is frequently cited by the White House Coronavirus Task Force, projects Oklahoma’s peak hospital demand will occur on April 23. The model projects Oklahomans will require 1,115 hospital beds, 229 ICU beds and 195 ventilators.

Oklahoma hospitals currently have 4,633 total beds, 671 ICU beds and 1,794 total ventilators available for COVID-19 patients.

Modeling by the Oklahoma State Department of Health shows a peak demand of April 21, and similar numbers of resources needed.

“We are in good shape, but I want Oklahomans to know that just because the models continue to look better over time, we must keep our guard up against this virus,” said Gov. Stitt.

The Governor’s Solution Task Force’s comprehensive hospital plan features three phases. The initial phase features existing hospitals increasing their capacities by 40%. Patients currently in hospitals will stay where they are, and new patients will be kept in their geographic region to the fullest extent possible.

The second phase includes OSU Medical Center in Tulsa and a hospital in the Oklahoma City metro to be used as flex sites designed to focus on COVID-19 patients. The Oklahoma City location will be publicly announced soon.

The third phase, if needed, will feature additional facilities constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with assistance from the Oklahoma National Guard.

“I want to thank our hospitals for their tremendous partnership during this pandemic,” said Gov. Stitt “Many have made difficult financial decisions by suspending elective surgeries to ensure they have the space and the PPE available for Oklahomans impacted by COVID.”

Hern introduces bill on emergency communications during floods

Rep. Hern Introduces Bill to Address Emergency Communications During Floods

Tulsa, OK – At the end of July, Representative Kevin Hern (OK-01) sponsored his first bill as a Member of Congress. H.R. 3944 amends the Water Resources Reform and Development Act, addressing the communications shortfalls Oklahomans experienced during the flooding this past May.

“Seeing firsthand the disaster that hit our community in May, I had to do something,” said Rep. Hern. “I spoke with people in our community, met with officials from FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers, emergency responders, and city leaders to determine what went wrong and how we could better prepare for floods like this in the future. It was clear that communication paths needed a fix. This bill will streamline communication of risk from the moment that the National Weather Service forecasts potential flooding. I hope this will help our community and other like it across the country prevent disasters like what we experienced in May from happening again.”

BACKGROUND:
This spring, Oklahoma’s First District was devastated by flooding. Unfortunately, while the Army Corps of Engineers always do well to respond in these situations, failing infrastructure and bureaucratic hurdles hamper their overall ability to provide adequate emergency communications.

Because of this, Congressman Hern is introducing this legislation to add another tool to the Army Corp’s belt. This reform will grant the Army Corps of Engineers the ability to better communicate impending disasters with our community and potentially give our constituents more time to prepare for flooding in the future. While we can’t stop these disasters from occurring, we can always be more prepared, and this bill will help us to achieve that.

This bill requires the Army Corps of Engineers to send emergency communications earlier, so constituents are better protected against disaster.

• Currently, the U.S. Code directs the Army Corps of Engineers to only send out emergency communications when “precipitation or runoff exceeds those calculations considered as the lowest risk to life and property.”
• This bill would adjust this requirement so that the Army Corps of Engineers would also send this emergency communication when the National Weather Service forecasts the possibility of precipitation or runoff exceeding calculations considered the lowest risk to life and property.
• This would better help local and state governments to make more informed plans ahead of time to prepare constituents, and to help them to better preempt any dangers caused by water releases.

QUESTIONS ABOUT H.R 3944

Would this bill force the Army Corps of Engineers to make releases before flood water accumulates on the ground?
No, this bill would do nothing to change the Army Corp of Engineer’s policy of not making releases until water accumulates, as is safer due to changing forecasts.


Rather, this bill will ensure quicker emergency communications from the Army Corps to localities so that constituents would get a more advanced notice of impending floods, and so that they would be able to react accordingly.

What if the forecasts under-anticipate the amount of precipitation?
Congressman Hern understands the potential errors of forecasting. Because of this, H.R.3944 requires emergency communication from the Army Corps when the forecasts require it, and when precipitation and run-off actually exceeds those calculations considered as the lowest risk to life and property, as is currently utilized.

In having both of these events as triggers for emergency communications, Congressman Hern’s bill will also protect constituents in the off-chance that flooding is not forecasted, but still occurs.

The bill text can be found here.

Stitt, mayors ask Corps to expedite Tulsa levee feasibility study

GOVERNOR STITT AND MAYORS BYNUM, GUTHRIE AND LEE REQUEST CORPS EXPEDITE FEASIBILITY STUDY ON TULSA LEVEES

Oklahoma City, Okla. (July 8, 2019)— Governor Kevin Stitt, Mayor G.T. Bynum (Tulsa), Mayor Brian Guthrie (Bixby) and Mayor Robert Lee (Jenks) sent a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requesting the feasibility study on the Tulsa-West Tulsa Levee System be expedited and completed by December 2019.

The feasibility study is needed for further improvements and upgrades to be implemented to the levee system, which provided protection to tens and thousands of Oklahomans during the recent major flooding events in Oklahoma.

The letter is available here and copied below.


Assistant Secretary James and Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite,

Throughout the months of April and May, the state of Oklahoma underwent devastating severe weather and flooding events. As a result of these conditions, state government declared a state of emergency for all 77 counties in Oklahoma, and the Trump administration was quick to respond both in its FEMA approvals as well as on the ground support from the Corps and a visit from the Vice President of the United States. Oklahoma greatly appreciates this administration's pro-active and close coordination during the events and your ongoing support as residents undergo a long road to recovery.

We specifically want to draw your attention to the historic flooding experienced in Eastern Oklahoma. This area was fortunate that the Tulsa-West Tulsa Levee System held back water for weeks, compared to the last major flooding event in 1986 that lasted less than a day. If these 75-year-old levees had been breached, the damage would have been catastrophic to the communities of hard-working Oklahomans protected by the levee system.

The 2018 Water Resources Development Act instructed your agency to conduct a Feasibility Study on our nation's levees, for completion by September 2020. Oklahomans simply cannot wait that long. In 2008, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rated the Tulsa-West Tulsa Levees as "unacceptable". Based on your own assessment, it is clear you, too, recognize the urgency for modernization and upgrades.

We are writing to request the Army Corps of Engineers to expedite the Feasibility Study for completion in December 2019. This will allow for much needed upgrades to be addressed before the close of the 116th Congress. Any deadline past December runs the risk of delaying the rebuilding and recovery process several years for this vital infrastructure.

The Tulsa-West Tulsa Levees provided protection to tens of thousands of Oklahomans, spanning from as north as Skiatook to as far south as Muskogee and Webbers Falls. These levees also protected $2 billion in infrastructure and two major oil refineries, both of which provide gasoline to a large section of the mid-continental United States. The risks are too high for this not to be resolved soon, but there is a clear solution and path forward for expediting upgrades if the Corps will finalize this important report by the end of this year.

Sincerely,

J. Kevin Stitt, Governor of Oklahoma
G.T. Bynum, Mayor of Tulsa
Brian Guthrie, Mayor of Bixby
Robert Lee, Mayor of Jenks