New Health Center Will Serve Old Britton In ‘Variety’ Of Ways

One area of the metro is greatly in need of health care, and a new community center is hoping to fill the void. Construction of the newest Variety Care facility is nearing completion, where several services will be offered.

The 33,000 square-foot facility is one of Variety Care’s largest projects, and the goal is to transform the community as a whole.

Variety Care CEO Lou Carmichael said, “We will provide medical, dental, mental health, vision, pharmacy, pediatrics all the way to geriatrics.”

Located at the corner of Classen and Britton, the state-of-the-art health center lies in the middle of an area where people need it most. “Almost 50% of the people live at or below poverty, so there’s a pretty poor community there and also resources are slim.”

Carmichael said the organization's 15th site will eventually serve 20,000 neighbors a year, and it is designed accordingly. The organization learned a lesson from their experience in Norman, where expansion is needed.

“We have had, from time to time, opened smaller sites and by the time we’re into the sixth month we’re already full to overflowing,” Carmichael said, “so we really built this health center with growth in mind.”

Services will be available early, late and on weekends for convenience.

Carmichael hopes the prenatal and early childhood development programs will help improve the community for generations to come.

She said, “I think aside from health outcomes, we’re going to be able to see educational outcomes, so better ready reading scores in first grade hopefully means better graduation rates later on.”

Variety Care served 120,000 Oklahomans last year, and continues to reach even more people in need. It is currently working on a senior health center in northwest Oklahoma City as well.

The Old Britton location's grand opening will be August 14th, just in time for back to school check-ups.

Variety Care is hosting two town hall meetings for anyone who wants to learn more about the new health center. The first meeting is Thursday, June 7 from 5:30-7 p.m. at Britton Elementary School. The second meeting is Thursday, June 14 from 5:30-7 p.m. at Britton Christian Church.

To learn about Variety Care services near you, click here.