OU Health

OU Health is Oklahoma’s only fully integrated academic health system, headquartered in Oklahoma City and created in 2020 when OU Medicine merged with the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. The system operates three hospitals: the University of Oklahoma Medical Center, Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health, and OU Health Edmond Medical Center, alongside numerous clinics and specialty centers statewide. With more than 13,000 employees and over 1,300 physicians and advanced practice providers, it offers care across more than 75 adult and pediatric specialties and subspecialties.

As the clinical partner of the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, OU Health is closely tied to the university’s seven health professional colleges, which train more than 4,000 students and residents each year. The system combines patient care, medical education, and research to improve health outcomes across Oklahoma. Its facilities include the state’s only Level I trauma center, its only National Cancer Institute-Designated cancer center, and its most comprehensive pediatric hospital. OU Health also serves as the official healthcare partner of the Oklahoma City Thunder, supporting community health initiatives and fan events.

The roots of OU Health go back to the founding of the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in 1900. In 1998, the state entered a joint operating agreement with Columbia/HCA, transferring management of the OU Medical Center to HCA Healthcare in a privatization effort. A major shift came in 2018 when OU Medicine Inc., a new nonprofit, bought the hospitals from HCA for $750 million, returning them to local control and allowing profits to be reinvested into the system. In 2020, OU Medicine and the Health Sciences Center unified under the OU Health brand, creating Oklahoma’s first fully integrated academic health system with a single leadership and operational structure. That same year, OU Health completed the largest hospital expansion in state history—the 450,000-square-foot North Tower at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center, adding 144 beds, 32 operating rooms, and advanced technologies for complex surgery, trauma, and cancer care.

The University of Oklahoma Medical Center, the flagship adult hospital and the largest in the state, sits on the Oklahoma Health Center campus in Oklahoma City.