Mayors’ Corner

Mayor Kris Wyatt

On January 9, there will be a special election for Bristow residents to vote on changing the verbiage for the use of the half-penny sales tax that was voted in in April of 2021. The tax was intended for capital improvements for the hospital, which at that time was being operated by Endeavor Healthcare. When Endeavor ceased operations on December 31 of that year, the State Department of Health would not allow the hospital to remain open. Carrus Healthcare was awarded the contract for operations, to start in January of 2022. The State Department of Health would not allow the reopening of the hospital without major (cannot be overstated) upgrades. The tax monies were used to fund those upgrades.

We recently received a $5m grant from the state of Oklahoma that will be directed toward the second phase of the hospital project, including a 25-bed inpatient unit.

Changing the verbiage on January 9 will allow the City to increase the scope of medical services for the residents and surrounding communities.

As always, I welcome your input.