The new Muscogee (Creek) Nation hospital in Okemah is just about ready to be open to the public.
According to tribal officials, the 110,000 square foot facility still has to undergo inspections by the Oklahoma State Department of Health but, once that is completed, a grand opening will be announced.
Located southeast of Okemah, the hospital will be open to not only Native Americans but also residents of the area.
According to MCN Secretary of Health Shawn Terry, the emergency room is open to anyone needing emergency medical attention including CT Scans, MRI, X-rays, lab work and in-patient services.
“Rural health in Oklahoma and access to care is something that a lot of our communities have struggled with,” Terry said. “The citizens and community members down in the Southern part of our tribal jurisdiction have even fewer resources down there. So we thought it was really important to try for those citizens to be able to have access to quality facilities and quality care.”
The facility is essentially two parts with the emergency room and inpatient services on one side of the building and the MCN Okemah Clinic with traditional out patient services for patients with CDIB cards on the other side.
The outpatient services include primary care, dental, optometry, behavioral health, public health nursing and physical therapy services. Outpatient services of the new facility have been occupied and running since December 2017.
MCN took over the Okemah hospital in the 1970s and was the first tribe to run a community hospital that facilitates all community members.
With 40,000 patients in the MCN healthcare system, Terry is projecting a five to 10 percent patient increase in 2018 with the new facility.