OSU Health Care Heroes: Dr. Johnny Stephens
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
OSU Health Care Heroes is a series highlighting those from the OSU-CHS community who have gone above and beyond during the COVID-19 pandemic to serve their institution, community and state.
What is your role here at OSU-CHS and how long have you been here?
I have been at OSU-CHS since 2001 starting in the Department of Internal Medicine
and am now in administration as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
What do you enjoy about working at OSU-CHS?
I enjoy the people and culture at OSU-CHS. Everyone believes in the mission of educating
physicians and scientists that will make a difference in rural Oklahoma.
Tell us about what you’ve done in terms of our COVID-19 response?
OSU-CHS was able to partner very early with OSU and the Animal Diagnostic Lab (OADDL)
with the leadership of Presidents Hargis and Shrum. Utilizing the joint talent at
CHS and OADDL with the existing diagnostic equipment we were able to get a lab operational
for human testing in 10 days. This allowed the state to have an Oklahoma solution
for testing. When we started we were one of the bottom five states for testing. In
a short amount of time, Oklahoma was able to move into the upper half of states testing
per capita. This gave us better data to plan around hot spots and reopening plans. The
OSU Diagnostic Lab has represented about a third of the testing completed in the state.
What have been some of the challenges during this time and how have you and the OSU-CHS
community met those challenges?
There have been many challenges. I’m proud to say, though, that CHS has met every
challenge thrown at us. The State of Oklahoma asked for a COVID designated hospital
and our hospital stepped forward. Oklahoma needed expanded testing and we opened a
swab pod for the community on our campus. Education was needed for the health care
workforce and how to treat COVID patients and the Project ECHO team stepped forward
with a COVID-19 Oklahoma Update ECHO three times a week with more than 500 participants
per call. We transformed our clinic care in about a week to virtual visits which allowed
for more than 1,500 patients per week to see their doctor in our clinics, and a plan
was put in place to cover the state with 54 telemedicine carts at rural hospitals. This
is not to mention the pivot by our faculty, staff and students to finish out the academic
year with a seamless transition to virtual learning. I could go on and on about the
challenges that were met by OSU-CHS. If you can’t tell, I am proud of our team.
What do you hope is the next step for OSU-CHS and Oklahoma during this time?
I am excited for the continued reopening and the spotlight that has been cast on us
because of our efforts during the pandemic. We all knew about our capabilities and
ability to solve problems. Many more people know about it now. One thing learned during
this pandemic is that we might be right one day, but are wrong the next. We will stay
creative and meet the challenge.
"Dr. Stephens is very modest, but he worked day and night— both virtually and in person— to solve and streamline manpower, logistics, and supply chain issues to ensure the success of the COVID-19 testing in the state. There were many late-night phone calls and task force planning sessions that required overnight solutions. Dr. Stephens was tenacious in his efforts."
MEDIA CONTACT: Sara Plummer | Communications Coordinator | 918-561-1282 | sara.plummer@okstate.edu