What’s Next for US Healthcare? Ask Oklahoma.
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StudentNation
/ February 18, 2026
What’s Next for US Healthcare? Ask Oklahoma.
As Trump continues to dismantle federal agencies, this state shows what happens when a one-party-controlled government makes sweeping public health changes with little resistance.
Rahhul Elangovan
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A healthcare worker administers a Covid-19 vaccine at an Oklahoma County Health Department Vaccine Clinic.
(Nick Oxford / Getty)
This story was produced for StudentNation, a program of the Nation Fund for Independent Journalism, which is dedicated to highlighting the best of student journalism. For more StudentNation, check out our archive or learn more about the program here. StudentNation is made possible through generous funding from The Puffin Foundation. If you’re a student and you have an article idea, please send pitches and questions to [email protected].
In early 2021, employees at Oklahoma’s new “state-of-the-art” Public Health Laboratory in Stillwater found expensive lab equipment at their workstations, but not enough free electrical outlets. Instead of a smooth opening, they were greeted with slow Internet service and an early power outage. By September, federal inspectors at the laboratory found things hadn’t improved: virus samples stored in an unlocked refrigerator, boxes of expired reagents stacked at entrances, and rows of empty desks.
The lab also lacked specialized personnel, forcing some tests out-of-state to Minnesota as workers reportedly mishandled Covid-19 samples and use of expired materials for screening. One worker warned that the move to the new lab was a “hurried, thoughtless decision that needs reconsideration and more planning.”
For Janis Blevin’s family, the rushed move also meant five weeks of “worry and concern” after her granddaughter’s newborn screening was processed through the Stillwater lab. In interviews, Blevin and her daughter, Lori Zehnder, described how the newborn was subject to five blood draws, two catheter urine collections, and five doctor’s appointments in the very first frantic weeks of life due to a false positive for Malonic Acidemia. “Those first six weeks were rough without having to add on something that could have been easily avoided if someone had taken the necessary steps to make sure things were done correctly,” Zehnder told KFOR.
Much of this largely avoidable disarray is the natural result of a one-party state testing the boundaries of administrative power and opacity. Oklahoma’s Republican-controlled government has made sweeping administrative decisions with almost no resistance—a “perfect storm,” according to Lori Freeman, CEO of the National …
This affects the entire country.
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What’s Next for US Healthcare? Ask Oklahoma.
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StudentNation
/ February 18, 2026
What’s Next for US Healthcare? Ask Oklahoma.
As Trump continues to dismantle federal agencies, this state shows what happens when a one-party-controlled government makes sweeping public health changes with little resistance.
Rahhul Elangovan
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Ad Policy
A healthcare worker administers a Covid-19 vaccine at an Oklahoma County Health Department Vaccine Clinic.
(Nick Oxford / Getty)
This story was produced for StudentNation, a program of the Nation Fund for Independent Journalism, which is dedicated to highlighting the best of student journalism. For more StudentNation, check out our archive or learn more about the program here. StudentNation is made possible through generous funding from The Puffin Foundation. If you’re a student and you have an article idea, please send pitches and questions to [email protected].
In early 2021, employees at Oklahoma’s new “state-of-the-art” Public Health Laboratory in Stillwater found expensive lab equipment at their workstations, but not enough free electrical outlets. Instead of a smooth opening, they were greeted with slow Internet service and an early power outage. By September, federal inspectors at the laboratory found things hadn’t improved: virus samples stored in an unlocked refrigerator, boxes of expired reagents stacked at entrances, and rows of empty desks.
The lab also lacked specialized personnel, forcing some tests out-of-state to Minnesota as workers reportedly mishandled Covid-19 samples and use of expired materials for screening. One worker warned that the move to the new lab was a “hurried, thoughtless decision that needs reconsideration and more planning.”
For Janis Blevin’s family, the rushed move also meant five weeks of “worry and concern” after her granddaughter’s newborn screening was processed through the Stillwater lab. In interviews, Blevin and her daughter, Lori Zehnder, described how the newborn was subject to five blood draws, two catheter urine collections, and five doctor’s appointments in the very first frantic weeks of life due to a false positive for Malonic Acidemia. “Those first six weeks were rough without having to add on something that could have been easily avoided if someone had taken the necessary steps to make sure things were done correctly,” Zehnder told KFOR.
Much of this largely avoidable disarray is the natural result of a one-party state testing the boundaries of administrative power and opacity. Oklahoma’s Republican-controlled government has made sweeping administrative decisions with almost no resistance—a “perfect storm,” according to Lori Freeman, CEO of the National …
What’s Next for US Healthcare? Ask Oklahoma.
This affects the entire country.
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What’s Next for US Healthcare? Ask Oklahoma.
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Current Issue
Politics
/
StudentNation
/ February 18, 2026
What’s Next for US Healthcare? Ask Oklahoma.
As Trump continues to dismantle federal agencies, this state shows what happens when a one-party-controlled government makes sweeping public health changes with little resistance.
Rahhul Elangovan
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ad Policy
A healthcare worker administers a Covid-19 vaccine at an Oklahoma County Health Department Vaccine Clinic.
(Nick Oxford / Getty)
This story was produced for StudentNation, a program of the Nation Fund for Independent Journalism, which is dedicated to highlighting the best of student journalism. For more StudentNation, check out our archive or learn more about the program here. StudentNation is made possible through generous funding from The Puffin Foundation. If you’re a student and you have an article idea, please send pitches and questions to [email protected].
In early 2021, employees at Oklahoma’s new “state-of-the-art” Public Health Laboratory in Stillwater found expensive lab equipment at their workstations, but not enough free electrical outlets. Instead of a smooth opening, they were greeted with slow Internet service and an early power outage. By September, federal inspectors at the laboratory found things hadn’t improved: virus samples stored in an unlocked refrigerator, boxes of expired reagents stacked at entrances, and rows of empty desks.
The lab also lacked specialized personnel, forcing some tests out-of-state to Minnesota as workers reportedly mishandled Covid-19 samples and use of expired materials for screening. One worker warned that the move to the new lab was a “hurried, thoughtless decision that needs reconsideration and more planning.”
For Janis Blevin’s family, the rushed move also meant five weeks of “worry and concern” after her granddaughter’s newborn screening was processed through the Stillwater lab. In interviews, Blevin and her daughter, Lori Zehnder, described how the newborn was subject to five blood draws, two catheter urine collections, and five doctor’s appointments in the very first frantic weeks of life due to a false positive for Malonic Acidemia. “Those first six weeks were rough without having to add on something that could have been easily avoided if someone had taken the necessary steps to make sure things were done correctly,” Zehnder told KFOR.
Much of this largely avoidable disarray is the natural result of a one-party state testing the boundaries of administrative power and opacity. Oklahoma’s Republican-controlled government has made sweeping administrative decisions with almost no resistance—a “perfect storm,” according to Lori Freeman, CEO of the National …
