Kathy Toppins
EDMOND — Patients in Oklahoma County will have better access to affordable, high-quality health care through the recent merger of Variety Health Center and Oklahoma Community Health Services Inc. On Nov. 10, the groups announced the merger of their operations into a new public entity, Variety Care.
“Our goal is that no person in our community will be without access to medical, dental, counseling, vision and maternal and child health care,” said Lou Carmichael, executive director of Variety Care. The community health model, she explained, “wraps the resources around the person rather than making the person navigate the health-care system.”
Variety Care is a United Way agency and is expected to serve an estimated total of more than 40,000 patients per year at health centers in south Oklahoma City, Del City, Fort Cobb and Tipton. In the past six months, Carmichael said, 518 patients listed Edmond as their residence.
“We do see patients from Edmond every day, as well as from further north and from the whole northwest quadrant of Oklahoma City,” Carmichael said. With people driving from Edmond to south of Interstate 240, she said, “clearly there is a need.” In January, she said, Variety Care is opening a new center at 4023 N.W. 10th St., just off Interstate 44, a location that will be more convenient to those people.
Although no one is turned away, health-care services provided by Variety Care are not free. The center offers a sliding scale of payment to uninsured and underinsured patients based on their household income and number of family members living in the home.
Not only is the health care affordable, Carmichael stressed, it’s high-quality. “We have a remarkable group of providers, all full-time employees dedicated to community health,” she said. Quality health care, she said, is available for extended hours, including evenings and Saturdays. In addition to extended hours, an answering service available 24 hours a day helps keep patients out of the emergency room.
Carmichael said Variety Care cannot handle every type of medical problem, but their health-care providers can get referrals for specialized treatment and then bring the patients back to Variety Care for their primary care. She described Variety Care as a “medical home” for patients, particularly the fragile elderly who have trouble navigating the system. On-site clinical pharmacists further serve to protect patients facing complicated medical issues.
Connie Baker, an Edmond resident and Variety Care board member, said the Variety Care facility in south Oklahoma City “is like a one-stop shop.” Baker said she learned first-hand about the importance of having integrated health care available in one location when she became the primary caregiver for her grandmother.
Baker recalled transporting her grandmother, who had pneumonia, to different locations for X-rays and treatments. As her grandmother got in and out of the car along the way, Baker watched her grandmother’s condition deteriorate.
Carmichael, a friend of Baker’s, initially gave Baker a tour of Oklahoma Community Health Services. “That was when I could really see what it is that they are providing. Once I saw the facility, I was hooked and wanted to be a part of it,” said Baker, who has served on the board for two years and is chairwoman of the Community Collaboration and Advocacy Committee.
“I think in our society it’s a good plan to look for any redundancy between agencies. That’s one thing we have tried to do in order to leverage our resources and skills,” Baker said. “I think that needs to be happening more and more as the dollars are dwindling.”
The operations of all sites will continue providing health care and services under one 501(c)3. A newly formed foundation will provide advocacy, fundraising and community awareness in support of the operations and programs.
For more information, call 632-6688 or visit www.varietycare.org.
ktoppins@edmondsun.com | 341-2121, ext. 112
