Rosino applauds governor’s approval of bill to improve oversight of state long-term care facilities

OKLAHOMA CITY- Gov. Kevin Stitt signed Senate Bill 1709 into law Thursday. The bill’s author, Sen. Paul Rosino, R-Oklahoma City, said this legislation was necessary following heinous abuse and torture that occurred at the Robert M. Greer Center, a facility in Enid that serves individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

Rosino, who chairs the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, emphasized the critical need to protect our state’s most vulnerable.

“It is our duty to protect those who can’t protect themselves. After hearing of the torturous acts that were committed at the Greer Center, I immediately began working to put protections in place to make sure this never occurs again. I appreciate the governor for recognizing this critical need and signing this legislation that will improve oversight of these facilities and ensure reports and investigations are looked into immediately and reviewed thoroughly. My thoughts and prayers remain with the Greer Center victims.”

House Majority Leader Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, served as the House author of SB 1709, which transfers the Office of Client Advocacy from the Oklahoma Department of Human Services to the State Department of Health.

“This bill is all about protecting people with developmental disabilities and correcting a horrific injustice committed against individuals in state care,” Echols said. “This will move the Office of Client Advocacy to being directly answerable to the Department of Health rather than through several layers of bureaucracy. I’m thankful for Senator Rosino bringing this forward and for the governor signing this important protection into law. This is just the beginning of what needs to be done to better protect these individuals, but I’m glad we’ve started this process.”

An investigation began earlier this year into the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, which oversaw the Greer Center. Police said the abuse was all at the hands of former employees, who were fired after details of the abuse emerged. The facility administrator also resigned and additional staff members were suspended following the allegations, which included patients being severely bruised, and in some cases, waterboarded.

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For more information, contact: Sen. Rosino at (405) 521-5618 or Paul.Rosino@oksenate.gov.