SULPHUR, OK – The Chickasaw Nation, along with Oklahoma Human Services and the Murray County Health Department, hosted Health and Hope on Wheels, a community resource event, at the Artesian Hotel parking lot.
The event featured services and resources provided from the agencies’ mobile units to lend a helping hand to a community that experienced a devastating tornado a few months earlier. Partnership was the core of the resource event where community members could find a wide range of services all in one place. The Chickasaw Nation Department of Public Health Inchokma mobile unit and Chickasaw Nation Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program participated in the event.
“This event is important because recovery is ongoing, and us being here is also a reminder that we don’t forget,” said Dr. Daniel Molina, Chickasaw Nation Department of Health Chief of Research and Public Health. “This is our community, and we’re recovering with the community. This is an opportunity to remind the local individuals, who have been through so much, that we are here through the long haul, and the way we do it is through our outreach through public health, and we have some partner agencies with the state here as well.”
Similar public health events, such as partnering with Chickasaw Nation Head Start to provide back-to-school wellness checks, have also been conducted at the Artesian Hotel, which has become a focal point after the storm and anchored the community. The Inchokma mobile unit also provided health outreach in the days immediately following the April 27 tornado, which devastated the downtown area and damaged hundreds of homes.
“The Inchokma mobile unit was here from day one of the disaster relief and provided medical response, and we are here today for vaccines and prevention,” said Molina. “That’s what public health is, meeting the needs. We’re mobile, we can get out into the community and be there to help with the recovery and ongoing rebuilding.”
During the Health and Hope on Wheels event, the Inchokma mobile unit provided childhood vaccinations, sports physicals and adult tetanus vaccinations to eligible First American families.
The WIC program hosted an outreach booth that detailed how the service provides First American and non-First American families with nutritious foods, breastfeeding support and other educational resources. Services are designed for pregnant or postpartum women, infants and children up to age five. The program serves more than 4,000 participants in the Chickasaw Nation treaty territory.
Oklahoma Human Services offered applications, reviews and changes for food, medical and childcare subsidy assistance programs, and case questions and support. The Murray County Health Department offered medical checkups and minor illness treatment, select blood panels and medical tests, and school sports physicals.
