September 17, 2018

OHCA Contact: Jo Stainsby - (405) 522-7474; Katelynn Burns - (405) 522-7266

Three OHCA RNs honored as 2018 Great 100 Nurses

Oklahoma City -For the second year in a row, three registered nurses at the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) were named to the “Great 100 Nurses” in Oklahoma.

Marlene Asmussen, Pam Jackson and recent OHCA-retiree Cheryl Moore were selected for the honor.

“I am very proud of Marlene, Pam and Cheryl, and I am glad they were selected for this honor. They are amazing leaders and bring tremendous value to OHCA," said OHCA CEO Rebecca Pasternik-Ikard. 

Asmussen has dedicated the majority of her career to the public health arena. She began her career at OHCA in 1997 as the aged, blind and disabled nurse case manager. She was the first exceptional needs coordinator in the newly-formed OHCA Care Management department and has worked her way to her current position of Director of Population Care Management (PCM). Asmussen expertly navigates the continuous changes in health care, while simultaneously maintaining a foundation for her staff.

Jackson is a supervisor in the Case Management Unit within the PCM department at OHCA where she mentors new staff. She mentors and coaches her team of nurses, reviews their clinical assessments and guides their care coordination efforts. In her various roles throughout her career, leadership is a common theme. Her comprehensive clinical knowledge, extensive management experience and familiarity with the state and federal regulations that govern the SoonerCare (Oklahoma Medicaid) program, are a valuable asset to OHCA. 

An employee of OHCA for more than 14 years, Moore was serving as a supervisor in the Case Management Unit when she retired in July 2018. With her diverse experience, Moore has an abundance of knowledge about the SoonerCare program. This knowledge base, combined with her clinical and managerial experience, are what personify Moore as a role model, both to the clinical staff within OHCA and to the Oklahoma nursing profession.

The Great 100 Nurses Foundation was founded by PK Scheerle, RN, in New Orleans 32 years ago, according to their website. Since its founding, the Great 100 Celebrations have honored thousands of nurses across Louisiana, North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

“These exemplary Nurses are selected based on their concern for humanity, their contributions to the profession of Nursing, and their mentoring of others. It is a great honor in the life of the Nurse to be selected as a Great 100 Honoree and our Foundation helps each RN recognize themselves as Nurse Heroes,” the website reads.   

The top nurses were recognized during an award celebration in Catoosa on September 10. 

 
The Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) administers two health programs for the state. The first is SoonerCare, Oklahoma’s Medicaid program. SoonerCare works to improve the health of qualified Oklahomans by ensuring that medically necessary benefits and services are available. Qualifying Oklahomans include certain low-income children, seniors, the disabled, those being treated for breast or cervical cancer and those seeking family planning services. The second program OHCA operates is Insure Oklahoma, which assists qualifying adults and small business employees in obtaining health care coverage for themselves and their families. Currently, there are 815,069 Oklahomans enrolled in OHCA’s programs.   The agency contracts with a network of 47,073 providers. For more information, visit www.okhca.org or www.insureoklahoma.org.