Okla. Stat. tit. 70, § 70-3424.1: Oklahoma Rural Health Policy and Research Center -

Mission.

A. There is hereby created the Oklahoma Rural Health Policy and

Research Center at the Oklahoma State University College of

Osteopathic Medicine.

B. 1. The mission of the Oklahoma Rural Health Policy and

Research Center shall be to:

a. improve rural health care delivery in Oklahoma through

the coordination of rural medical education,

telemedicine, research, and health care policy, and

b. establish a process for the following types of

hospitals to request designation as a rural health

care delivery system through the Oklahoma Rural Health

Policy and Research Center:

(1) a rural hospital located in a metropolitan

statistical area, and

(2) a hospital located in an administrative area that

is administratively designated as urban or

nonrural.

2. A hospital located in a metropolitan statistical area or an

area administratively designated as urban or nonrural that requests

designation as a rural health care delivery system shall meet at

least two of the following criteria:

a. be located in a county with a population density of

less than two hundred twenty-five (225) persons per

square mile of land area,

b. be located in a county with a municipality of twenty-

five thousand (25,000) persons or fewer, excluding the

major city designated as urban or nonrural, or

c. be the only hospital located in a county.