Patricia Yarholar, MPH, CHES, received her Master of Public Health degree from The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. She is currently the Tribal Epidemiology Grant lead/public health coordinator with the Oklahoma Area Tribal Epidemiology Center (OKTEC) of the Southern Plains Tribal Health Board (SPTHB), and is honored to serve in this capacity. She oversees and provides direction for the grant to accomplish deliverables that improve health care delivery to tribes, tribal organizations, and urban Indian health organizations. Patricia was previously employed with the Absentee Shawnee Tribal Health Authority at the Little Axe Health Center and served as the community health and prevention services director. She was also the health education director for the Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes, serving a nine-county service area. During employment with the Association of American Indian Physicians (AAIP), she served as the American Indian/Alaska Native National Diabetes Education Program coordinator.
She credits the tribal health programs, AAIP and SPTHB-TEC for the knowledge and experience gained on local, regional, and national levels to serve American Indians and Alaska Natives. Patricia is an enrolled member of the Sac and Fox Tribe of Oklahoma and also possesses Pawnee and Otoe Missourian ancestry. She’s been married to Pastor Clarence Yarholar for 39 years and they have one son, Cortney Yarholar, and daughter-in-law, Courtney Tsotigh Yarholar, and two awesome grandchildren, Jude Scout, seven years old, and Nora Joy, two years old.
