Sep 27, 2026 · 33 min · 10 segments
The Oklahoma Hospital Association invited Democrat gubernatorial candidate Cyndi Munson to participate in a video interview discussing issues important to Oklahoma healthcare. As part of the…
Cyndi MunsonGuestRich RasmussenHostAt the Hospital Association, one of the things that we talk a lot about is our efforts to improve health and healthcare in Oklahoma.
And certainly we look at health as a more broadly used term for all of our healthiness and healthcare, the services that we deliver, And I'd be curious to know what your thoughts are when we look at these upcoming Medicaid cuts, that as we've revised our numbers based on a most recent rule that CMS has produced, the number for our impact on our hospitals alone has come down a little bit.
So it's about $5 billion, albeit $5 billion over the next decade, and a billion-dollar reduction to physician reimbursement over that same period, too.
And so for many of our hospitals, it's really concerning about how are they going to make adjustments to stay in operation for some of our smallest hospitals, but also how to ensure that they have the right retooling operationally and financially to remain sustainable.
So I say all of that to kind of ask you, what are your thoughts about that? And if you are our next governor, how will you approach these reductions? Because in many communities, it will be transformational, but in the wrong direction.
Yeah, well, you mentioned just seeing me all across the state and where I've been.
I will have traveled to all 77 counties hosting at least one event talking to Oklahomans.
And that also includes getting on the ground and visiting a few of our hospitals in our rural communities.
and i want to highlight just a couple of my a few of my visits one in shaddock oklahoma so in the panhandle at newman memorial went to southeastern oklahoma and mccurtain county and you know these are bordering you know communities on the opposite ends of our state and then also went to grady county memorial hospital a couple weeks ago and of course i'm a patient at mercy's and i'm in oklahoma city so i'm in a larger hospital system And the reason I was invited to come out is really to be on the ground and see what's going on, both what will happen when these cuts come, and also what are some innovative things that they're doing and how they're providing health care to their community.
And just the importance of why securing and protecting these hospitals is so important, not just for health care services, but economic development in the rural communities and protecting the workforce, our doctors and nurses and those who work within the hospital system.
When I went to Grady County Memorial Hospital, I was impressed that the hospital CEO took me to the boiler room.
And he had me look at the boiler and all the infrastructure that had been put in place when the hospital was built in 1959. then took me over to the newest technology that was placed in 1970.
And so just trying to elevate that, you know, when we don't have funding and access to financial tools or mechanisms to protect even basic infrastructure, maintaining it, updating it, that impacts, of course, services.
And, of course, we know that low income, lack of access to nutritious foods, jobs that pay higher wages all impact health outcomes but not having a hospital and not being able to go to a primary care physician to deal with preventative health care issues and challenges that we all face sometime throughout life we know is a big a big threat to our people and to our communities and so as governor i will want to do what i've always done as a state legislator is listen to the experts Listen to the hospital association.
Listen to local health care leaders and leading our hospitals and what they're having, the hard decisions they're having to make.
I'm glad to hear that there's just slightly less of what's going to happen in terms of the financial challenges we're going to have to face, but they're still enormous.
And so I want to work on utilizing whatever tools we have and figuring out a pathway to protect our hospitals, protect our healthcare system as much as possible.
As you can imagine, as I go across the state, the two things that come up the most or the two issues that come up the most are education and healthcare.
And as governor, having to decide, even as a candidate, and then once I hopefully am elected governor, Well, what's most important when we know we need education and we know we need health care and those who are more educated are healthier.
And when you have health care, you're you're going to go to school, you're going to go to work.
At the Hospital Association, one of the things that we talk a lot about is our efforts to improve health and healthcare in Oklahoma.
And certainly we look at health as a more broadly used term for all of our healthiness and healthcare, the services that we deliver, And I'd be curious to know what your thoughts are when we look at these upcoming Medicaid cuts, that as we've revised our numbers based on a most recent rule that CMS has produced, the number for our impact on our hospitals alone has come down a little bit.
So it's about $5 billion, albeit $5 billion over the next decade, and a billion-dollar reduction to physician reimbursement over that same period, too.
And so for many of our hospitals, it's really concerning about how are they going to make adjustments to stay in operation for some of our smallest hospitals, but also how to ensure that they have the right retooling operationally and financially to remain sustainable.
So I say all of that to kind of ask you, what are your thoughts about that? And if you are our next governor, how will you approach these reductions? Because in many communities, it will be transformational, but in the wrong direction.
Yeah, well, you mentioned just seeing me all across the state and where I've been.
I will have traveled to all 77 counties hosting at least one event talking to Oklahomans.
And that also includes getting on the ground and visiting a few of our hospitals in our rural communities.
and i want to highlight just a couple of my a few of my visits one in shaddock oklahoma so in the panhandle at newman memorial went to southeastern oklahoma and mccurtain county and you know these are bordering you know communities on the opposite ends of our state and then also went to grady county memorial hospital a couple weeks ago and of course i'm a patient at mercy's and i'm in oklahoma city so i'm in a larger hospital system And the reason I was invited to come out is really to be on the ground and see what's going on, both what will happen when these cuts come, and also what are some innovative things that they're doing and how they're providing health care to their community.
And just the importance of why securing and protecting these hospitals is so important, not just for health care services, but economic development in the rural communities and protecting the workforce, our doctors and nurses and those who work within the hospital system.
When I went to Grady County Memorial Hospital, I was impressed that the hospital CEO took me to the boiler room.
And he had me look at the boiler and all the infrastructure that had been put in place when the hospital was built in 1959. then took me over to the newest technology that was placed in 1970.
And so just trying to elevate that, you know, when we don't have funding and access to financial tools or mechanisms to protect even basic infrastructure, maintaining it, updating it, that impacts, of course, services.
And, of course, we know that low income, lack of access to nutritious foods, jobs that pay higher wages all impact health outcomes but not having a hospital and not being able to go to a primary care physician to deal with preventative health care issues and challenges that we all face sometime throughout life we know is a big a big threat to our people and to our communities and so as governor i will want to do what i've always done as a state legislator is listen to the experts Listen to the hospital association.
Listen to local health care leaders and leading our hospitals and what they're having, the hard decisions they're having to make.
I'm glad to hear that there's just slightly less of what's going to happen in terms of the financial challenges we're going to have to face, but they're still enormous.
And so I want to work on utilizing whatever tools we have and figuring out a pathway to protect our hospitals, protect our healthcare system as much as possible.
As you can imagine, as I go across the state, the two things that come up the most or the two issues that come up the most are education and healthcare.
And as governor, having to decide, even as a candidate, and then once I hopefully am elected governor, Well, what's most important when we know we need education and we know we need health care and those who are more educated are healthier.
And when you have health care, you're you're going to go to school, you're going to go to work.
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