A bill that would provide state funding to keep the Oklahoma State University Medical Center in Tulsa open is on its way to the State Senate following unanimous passage by the Oklahoma House of Representatives last week.

House Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa, wrote House Bill 1127, which would pay $5 million annually in state money over the next five years to keep the OSU hospital in business, according to a press release from Benge’s office.

In the release, Benge said it is important that the hospital stays open so more Oklahoma students can be trained as doctors within the state.

“As the baby boomer generation prepares to retire, we know we are facing a shortage of health care providers while the need for services will continue to increase,” he said. “This plan will help us make sure we do not take a step back in training new Oklahoma doctors.”

Benge has been involved in stabilizing the residency program at OSU for five years, because the school produces doctors that benefit areas all over the state, especially Oklahoma’s rural areas, said his press secretary Jennifer Monies.

This funding would be in addition to $20 million the state already allocated to the hospital and private pledges of $7 million a year over the next five years, the release said.

The OSU Medical Center then would be donated to the city by its current owner, Ardent Health Services, the release said. A private company, St. John Health System, would take over operations of the hospital.

The medical center is not financially stable enough to stay open without the additional funding, said St. John CFO Lex Anderson. If it closed, there would be negative consequences for the Tulsa community, he said.

“If OSU Medical Center had been allowed to close, the other Tulsa hospitals would not have been able to handle the 40,000 emergency room visits, and lives would have been put at risk from long emergency room waits and lack of access to service,” Anderson said.

Several Tulsa community leaders asked St. John to get involved in keeping the hospital open, and the company is already planning for the transition of control, he said.

“Once the governor signs legislation, St. John will work with the [Tulsa] Trust and Ardent to achieve a seamless transition of management services so that patient care will not be adversely affected by changes in ownership and management,” Anderson said.