Staff change

The funding may have been reduced, but the determination to achieve TSET Healthy Living Program goals in McClain remains strong.

Ariel Anglin is the new program manager for the program managed by Norman Regional Health System.

In May, directors for the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust awarded a $179,000 grant to the program in McClain County.

The previous grant was around $220,000, Anglin said.

NRHS eliminated the three staff positions here and transferred Anglin from the Cleveland County program to manage McClain County.

Anglin hopes to hire an assistant around mid-September.

“There will be a lot going on this next year,” she said, explaining the first step will be a “big community assessment” to determine needs.

Anglin isn’t yet sure what that will look like, but envisions a large collaborative group from across the county which will meet monthly for the first year to identify hot spots the program can address.

The group will be “very hands on” under the new grant, she added.

Anyone who is interested in serving on the collaborative group is asked to email Anglin at aanglin@nrh-ok.com.

There are numerous demographics that factor into those hot spots and they range from promoting more fruits and vegetables in the diet to life expectancy.

“The roles of this grant are very different than the previous grant,” she said. “It is very data-driven.”

Anglin graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in public health.

She went to work for the health department as a public health educator until five years ago when she was hired by NRHS to work for the Healthy Living program in Cleveland County.

She pledged to “work to impact the lives of the people of McClain County.”

The TSET grants are awarded in five-year increments and Anglin is looking forward to another successful five years.

“We’re going to get a lot accomplished,” she said.

Anglin’s husband, Brad, teaches history at Noble and is a cancer survivor. So healthy living is something very dear to Anglin’s heart.

The couple have two children – Kasen, 16, and Ella, who just turned 9.