2025 Year in Review
Dear Friends,
As we look ahead at a new year, I continue to be amazed by what our team at the Center for Health Sciences achieves. Through a dedication to doing what’s right, even when it’s hard, we are living out the Cowboy Code each and every day.
As we go to print with this year's Vitals issue, we have just wrapped up a celebration for the new James Mountain Inhofe VA Medical Center in downtown Tulsa. More than 200 community, legislative and philanthropic partners came together to help mark the transfer of ownership to the VA, which plans to officially open the building next summer.
The VA serves as a cornerstone to the new OSU Academic Medical District, which also includes a greatly expanded OSU Medical Center, the Oklahoma Psychiatric Care Center, OSU Medicine clinics and a new biomedical research lab. All of this is slated for completion in 2028 and will truly revitalize this part of downtown and transform the health care landscape here.
We’re also making an impact by innovating around virtual care, using technology to connect our physicians – from cardiology to psychiatry and more – with rural hospitals and even rural school districts to make a difference for the health of Oklahomans. Our first free-standing virtual clinic opened last March in Antlers, Okla., in partnership with the Choctaw Nation.
All of this growth is also showing up in our enrollment numbers. We set a new record this fall semester with graduate programs enrollment surpassing 2,000 students. Overall, the programs experienced a 23% increase in enrollment, with Health Care Administration increasing by 35% and Forensic Sciences increasing by 19%.
I’m proud to say our work is resulting in top national rankings. For the second time in three years, our OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine was ranked number one in the nation by U.S. News and World Report for graduates who practice in health care shortage areas, commonly known as medical deserts. This further underscores how we are meeting our mission for the state of Oklahoma.
Finally this fall, OSU President Jim Hess announced an ambitious, system-wide fundraising campaign that calls each of us to live up to the Cowboy Code. As I reflect on those principles that define OSU, I could not be prouder that here at CHS, we truly do dream as big as the sky, stand for what matters and end the day knowing we gave it everything we had.
Go Pokes!
Johnny Stephens, Pharm D
President, OSU Center for Health Sciences