Community Clinic Offers Low-Cost Health Care in South Oklahoma City

OKLAHOMA CITY -- While the debate over health care rages people in the metro have an option for medical care that doesn't cost a lot.

A clinic on the south side offers a lot of services all based on a person's ability to pay.

The clinic tries to help lower-income people, those who may have lost a job, or those who simply have no insurance at all.

Going to see the doctor turned into a family outing for Denise Stegemann and her daughter.

"I started coming here three years ago and I've had a good experience so far," patient Machala Martin said.

This family is fortunate; they have insurance.

But the clinic is seeing an increase of patients who have no insurance and this is their only option for health care.

"We've had numerous patients come in that said that they were laid off and lost their health care coverage when that occurred," Dr. William R. Holcomb with Oklahoma Community Health Services said.

But the services aren't free. To determine what a patient will pay, the clinic uses a sliding scale based on the patient's monthly income and the number of people living in the household. For example, a single person in a home making about $900 a month will pay just $25 for the office visit plus any lab work.

"Some lab tests are as low as $8 to get an important lab test done that you may need done to check your diabetes or high blood pressure," Holcomb said.

Holcomb says some people with chronic illnesses put off seeing a doctor because of the costs, but they need to know there are affordable options available to them.

"This is the closest in the vicinity for having all your services from birth to elderly all in one building so that's convenient too," Stegemann said.

The clinic is also open until 8:30 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays to accommodate their patients.

Oklahoma Community Health Services is located at 1025 Straka Terrace in Oklahoma City. Call 632-6688 or email info@okchs.org for more info.