Founded in 1943, OSU Medical Center was established as Oklahoma Osteopathic Hospital by a group of osteopathic physicians who purchased a building previously used a psychiatric hospital.[5][6] The hospital name was later changed to Tulsa Regional Medical Center. In 1996, the non-profit hospital was bought by Columbia/HCA of Nashville, Tennessee, who changed made the facility into a for-profit hospital.[7] The company later became the target of a federal fraud investigation, which eventually pleaded guilty and paid $1.7 billion in fines.[8][9] In 1999, the hospital was sold to Tulsa-based Hillcrest Medical Center, a locally owned non-profit organization, which already owned another hospital in Tulsa.[7]
In 2004, the for-profit Ardent Health Services, also of Nashville, bought the Hillcrest system.[7] In 2006, the hospital changed its name to OSU Medical Center,[10] as the State of Oklahoma passed Senate Bill 1771, which provided $40 million to fund improvements at the hospital.[11][12] The city formed a trust to take over the hospital, which was threatened with closure by lack of funds.[5] In 2009, Ardent Health Services agreed to mediation terms, where Ardent would donate the hospital to the State of Oklahoma in exchange for $10 million in reimbursement for indirect medical education costs.[13]
OSU Medical Center has a partnership with OSU Center for Health Sciences and Diagnostic Imaging Associates to provide medical care to rural communities in Oklahoma with a telemedicine program. This program currently includes 35 regional hospital and clinic partners, and is one of the largest statewide telemedicine programs in the United States.
OSU Medical Center also provides cardiology care, comprehensive wound care, and child, adolescent, and geriatric psychiatric care. The hospital operates the only hyperbaric oxygen chamber in the region.[5] OSU Medical Center recently expanded its cardiology services and uses Cardiology of Tulsa to oversee its cardiology fellowship program.