Workers aim to provide familiar faces who can ‘meet people where they are’BLANCHARD — Liz Torrenueva’s job makes her feel like a big sister to her community, helping people through tough times and crises.As she nears two years as a community health worker with the Oklahoma State Department of Health, Torrenueva estimated that she is currently working with 110 residents of McClain County. She helps them apply for government assistance, provides them with health care resources and aids clients navigating pregnancy.“Community health workers know the area that they’re located in,” she said. “We have that boots-on-the-ground experience of where to go, who to talk to. We’re able to have those one-on-one relationships with our clients as well, and we help develop trust within the Health Department.”First launched during the summer of 2021, the Oklahoma State Department of Health’s Community Health Worker program was created using COVID-era funding as a way to connect people to resources in their communities. The department now employs an estimated 50 community health workers throughout Oklahoma.From helping people find health care providers and apply for Medicaid to helping connect a pregnant person with resources to work through grief following a miscarriage, Torrenueva said having a familiar face is beneficial in growing trust.Taylor Holland has been the program manager of the Office of Community Health Workers since February 2023. She said the program is important because it helps to “meet people where they are.”“A lot of times clients will come to the health department for one thing, but then with the social determinants of health screening we’re able to see what other needs that they’re having outside of just what they came in for,” she said. “Then we’re able to connect them and be that advocate for our clients. And that could be connecting them to housing or food or transportation.”What are community health workers?Holland knew COVID funding was temporary, so the first thing she focused on was diversifying the program’s funding, she said.The program now has eight sources of funding, ranging from state and federal funding to grants and other partnerships, all with varying levels of contributions.The program’s annual budget for the salaries of community health care workers this year is approximately $1.8 million and the total annual budget for the program is about $3 million, according to a spokesperson for the department.Community health workers earn a salary of $41,000, though the department is working to ...
