OKWatch: With Health Department News, Waves of Disbelief Roll Across State
With Health Department News, Waves of Disbelief Roll Across State
By Ben Botkin, Paul Monies and Jeff Raymond, OKLAHOMA WATCH
Justin Forney worked for the state Department of Health for 12 years as a public information officer, stationed in several county health departments, including Logan County.
Then, in the wake of a financial crisis that shook the department, Forney lost his job in March – the result of cuts of nearly 200 health department positions.
Forney is still unemployed. And on Thursday, as the news rolled out statewide that a grand jury had found the agency’s reported cash shortfall never happened, he felt a sense of shock.
He got a text from a former co-worker: “This was all for nothing?”