Oklahoma Department of Health begins laying off 198 employees

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma State Department of Health laid off 37 people on Friday and announced 161 others likely will lose their jobs in March.

Those laid off Friday were unclassified employees, meaning they didn’t have state civil service protections. Some worked at county health departments as advanced practice registered nurses, local emergency response coordinators and partnership consultants. Others worked in the central offices in records, minority health, performance management and the Center for Health Innovation and Effectiveness.

The department faces a budget gap, allegedly due to misuse of federal funds, which Interim Health Commissioner Preston Doerflinger said officials tried to cover with “accounting tricks.”

Former Health Commissioner Terry Cline left the agency as its financial troubles boiled over, as did his top deputy, Julie Cox-Kain; the department’s business planning director, Felesha Scanlan; and general counsel Don Maisch.

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