Oklahoma State University Wins State-Wide Health Award

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Oklahoma State University -- America’s Healthiest Campus® -- won the Outstanding Public Health Promotion Program Award at the 2015 Oklahoma Public Health Association Conference in Midwest City this week.

“We are thrilled to get this recognition of our collaborative approach to the health and well-being of our students, employees, and communities within our great state of Oklahoma,” said Dr. Suzy Harrington, OSU Chief Wellness Officer.  

The OPHA annual conference brings state-of-the-art speakers on a variety of important and timely health topics. The two-day conference focused on creating and sustaining a quality improvement culture in the workplace.

The award recognized OSU for its excellence in the innovation of services that have demonstrated a significant public health impact. 

“We have a goal to enrich the lives of our students, employees, and the communities in which we live, learn, work, and play, across our five OSU campuses totaling more than 35,000 students, four A&M campuses, and 77 Oklahoma County Extension Service Offices,” Harrington said. 

For years, despite the fact Oklahoma consistently ranks in the lowest 10 percent of several major health rankings, OSU has been a leader in campus health initiatives. For example, OSU was the first tobacco-free university system, the first university to have a stand-alone wellness center, and the first to have a comprehensive pet therapy program. 

At OSU, success comes in many forms – and so does wellness. 

“It is being the best we can be,” Harrington said, “the most engaged, most productive, most successful, and the most confident. It is who we are – more than what we do.”

Oklahoma State University continues to empower its employees, students and communities where they live, to be well. For more information, visit AmericasHealthiestCampus.com or email the Oklahoma State University Chief Wellness Officer at chiefwellnessofficer@okstate.edu.  

Story by Tory Dwyer