OHA Foundation receives Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation grant to address health disparities
Posted on: 5/24/24
Corrected: This article first appeared in Hotline on May 17. We are rerunning with corrections.
OHA is pleased to announce that its non-profit organization, The Foundation for a Healthy Oklahoma, has been awarded a highly competitive national grant from the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation (BMS Foundation) to address health disparities for lung cancer amongst indigenous populations within the U.S.
Lung cancer presents a significant health challenge, especially among American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN), who face higher incidence and mortality rates compared to the general population. The connection between smoking and lung cancer is well-documented, and the statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that smokers are about 30 times more likely to die from lung cancer than nonsmokers, and smoking is associated with about 90% of all deaths from lung cancer. In Oklahoma, only 1.7% of patients who are at high risk and eligible for a preventive lung cancer screening receive a preventive low-dose CT scan.
In April, the BMS Foundation board of directors approved the Foundation for a Healthy Oklahoma grant request in the amount of $641,740 over three years to support a clinical tobacco treatment and preventive lung cancer screening program in collaboration with the Choctaw Nation Health Services Authority (CNHSA).
“We are extremely pleased to receive this generous grant that was only made available to four recipients nationally. This is one of many strategic opportunities to tackle health disparities and the drivers of negative health outcomes that push down Oklahoma’s health rankings and drive-up healthcare costs,” said
Eric Finley, executive director, Foundation for a Healthy Oklahoma. “We believe that increasing our preventive lung cancer efforts is a route to better health outcomes in Oklahoma. We are grateful for the invaluable support and partnership offered by the Choctaw Nation Health Services Authority to help secure this award. This plan is unique and builds upon the strong foundation we have already created with CNHSA and this will ultimately help the Choctaw Nation reduce lung cancer mortality in their community.”
The grant from the BMS Foundation is being treated as a pilot project with an opportunity for growth to bring on additional healthcare partners interested in better addressing clinical tobacco treatment and preventive lung cancer in the AI/AN community. If you would like to learn more about this initiative or any of the healthcare transformation initiatives available from OHA, please contact Eric Finley at
[email protected].