Feds Now Investigating Oklahoma State Department of Health

• Jackie Fortiér
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  Jackie is StateImpact Oklahoma's health care reporter. In a partnership with Kaiser Health News and National Public Radio, Jackie covers health in Oklahoma and the health care industry for local and national audiences. She has many journalism awards to her name during her years of multi-media reporting in Colorado and was part of a team recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists with a Sigma Delta Chi award for excellence in breaking news reporting in 2013. She is a former young professional fellow of the Journalism and Women's Symposium, and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, Reporters without Borders, and a lifetime member of Kappa Tau Alpha, awarded for her thesis on disability and technology in news reporting. She holds a bachelor's degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing from Colorado State University and a Master of Arts degree in journalism from the University of Colorado, Boulder. When she's not reporting, she enjoys spending time with her husband and three cats.

Joe Wertz / StateImpact Oklahoma

Interim Health Commissioner Preston Doerflinger.

The Oklahoma Attorney General’s office on Tuesday said a probe into alleged mismanagement of roughly $30 million from the Oklahoma State Department of Health has expanded to include investigators from the FBI and the  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

You should know: This confirms testimony Interim Health Commissioner Preston Doerflinger gave to a House investigative committee that at least some of the money under scrutiny was in accounts restricted to federal programs administered by the state agency. Authorities are trying to unravel the financial mess, which almost forced the agency to miss its payroll, required a stop-gap emergency cash infusion from lawmakers and led to layoffs. A grand jury investigation could also mean criminal charges.