News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports | Merger Helps Provide Affordable Health Care to Oklahomans
Variety Health Center and Oklahoma Community Health Services announced a merger. They combined to better reach the low income population and expect to serve about 40,000 Oklahomans a year.
Besides prenatal and pediatric care, Oklahoma County residents will have access to vision, dental and mental health care that is within their means.By Jennifer Pierce, NEWS 9
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahomans now have more options when it comes to health care. Two health care providers are merging to provide more services to low income residents.
Variety Health Center and Oklahoma Community Health Services are now one which means the clinics can now double the number of patients they can help.
They combined to better reach the low income population and expect to serve about 40,000 Oklahomans a year.
As the health care providers reveal their new identity, Variety Care, patients likely won't notice the new name, but will see a big difference in something else.
“Now they begin to see more services, more sites, more opportunities,” said Variety Care Executive Director Lou Carmichael.
Besides prenatal and pediatric care, Oklahoma County residents will have access to vision, dental and mental health care that is within their means.
“It makes us far stronger because the patients we see, many of them have Medicaid or some insurance and with those revenue dollars, we can build together then help us see more uninsured patients,” Carmichael said. “Our goal is to take care of a third of the people in Oklahoma County that don't have health insurance.”
At the downtown Variety clinic, nurse practitioner Judy Kellogg and her staff have seen an increase in patients due to the economy. The merger will now allow her to treat more low income residents.
Kellogg wants to educate Oklahomans on the value of preventative healthcare and to not wait until health concerns are an emergency.
“By providing services such as what we have here, we can have that impact early on and allow our emergency rooms to be used for what they should be used for and that is emergencies,” said Kellogg.
If the patient is uninsured, the clinics go off a sliding scale that is based on household size and income. They do not turn patients away because of lack of money, but will work with them to set up affordable payment plans.
Variety Care now has five metro clinics and two rural clinics in Fort Cobb and Tipton.
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