Access to Care

Blue Impact

Closing Gaps in Care

With our community partners, we’re expanding access to immunizations, diabetes care, cardiovascular care, behavioral health, early detection cancer screening, and maternal and infant health.

Blue Impact grants are supporting community organizations across Oklahoma that complement our collaboration with doctors and other providers to close care gaps for members.

A grant to the OU Foundation is helping the Stephenson Cancer Center deploy mobile mammography screenings in Guymon and Oklahoma City’s Latina community, reaching about 25 uninsured and underinsured women a day. Blue Impact funding also is supporting Honestly, an effort to champion reproductive well-being in Central Oklahoma and address racial and economic disparities in teen birth rates and other reproductive health outcomes.

Our support for the Oklahoma Caring Foundation — which operates the Caring Van^® mobile health program — is helping thousands of people across the state gain access to immunizations and other important preventive health services and education.

The 20th annual Champions of Health Gala raised funds for the Caring Foundation and honored organizations that improve Oklahoma’s health with innovative programs.

Union High School student Dae’Mar Nealy was named Heart of a Champion at the Champions of Health gala and swapped jerseys with keynote speaker Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills. 

Tracking Chronic Conditions to Achieve Equitable Health Outcomes

Health Alliance for the Uninsured is equipping free clinics across Oklahoma with electronic medical record systems to help manage care for vulnerable patients with chronic conditions.

Caring Van^® Impact

Economic Opportunity and Stability

It’s hard to focus on health without stable income, access to jobs, and chances to gain new skills and grow. Several Oklahoma organizations are making a difference in these areas with the support of Blue Impact grants.

ReMerge of Oklahoma County is using Blue Impact funding for career training that positions moms for careers with a family-sustaining wage and pathways for growth. In North Tulsa, Green Country Habitat for Humanity is growing its financial literacy program with a virtual education model, reaching homebuyers who can’t participate in person.

Connecting Tulsa Students to Medical Career Paths

The Tulsa Higher Education Consortium’s six-month paid fellowship that allows high school students to learn about medical degree programs and share those opportunities with their peers.

Addressing Hunger and Nutrition

Reliable access to nutritious food is essential to health and wellness, and too many people in communities across Oklahoma live in food-insecure households.

To help meet this need, BCBSOK supports and collaborates with organizations that buy and distribute fresh food and provide culturally appropriate education and support.

With help from a Blue Impact grant, Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma is buying and redesigning a refrigerated truck for a mobile grocery, providing an authentic shopping experience to people experiencing hunger in rural communities. Skyline Urban Ministry in Oklahoma City is using a grant for its Garden to Grocery Cart project, growing fresh produce to be harvested and distributed at no cost to food-insecure patrons of its Food Resource Center.

Securing Summer Meals for Children in Rural Oklahoma

Hunger Free Oklahoma is educating rural schools, churches, community centers and other sites about accessing the expanded federal Summer Food Service Program.

Strengthening Neighborhood
and Local Assets

We all rely on the structure of our homes and neighborhoods to meet our most basic needs, so we’re investing in efforts to improve access to affordable healthy housing, transportation and physical activity.

For example, Blue Impact funding is helping Sisu Youth Services address youth homelessness in Oklahoma City with a supervised transitional living program called Atlas. Teens are placed in a shared apartment with on-site staff around the clock, and they receive mental health support and case management services to help them meet educational, employment and long-term housing goals.

BCBSOK also made a commitment to bring free, accessible outdoor fitness courts to Oklahoma communities in collaboration with local officials and National Fitness Campaign.

Providing Affordable Housing During Medical Emergencies

Hospitality House of Tulsa is helping more people who travel to Tulsa for critical medical care secure affordable lodging with help from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma.

Locally Defined Solutions

Health needs are often very different from one city neighborhood to another, suburb to suburb and community to community in every region of the state. BCBSOK is helping meet these needs at the hyperlocal level.

In November last year, we transformed Lacy Park Community Center in North Tulsa to host the Rock the Block health fair and block party. The event included entertainment, activities, free turkeys and food trucks — plus no-cost health screenings and immunizations.

Our Mobile Assistance Center (MAC) team established a pop-up space in Supermercados Morelos in Oklahoma City. The team’s presence gives the Latino community a comfortable and welcoming place to ask questions and find coverage options that are right for their budget and health care needs.

Helping House Oklahoma City’s Most Vulnerable Community Members

City Care is preparing to build a medical respite center to expand services for medically fragile guests of its low-barrier night shelter