Needed: Health care

by: KIM ARCHER World Staff Writer
3/22/2008

Some areas lack services

The 74126.

It is the Tulsa ZIP code devoid of doctors, hospitals or any kind of medical service.“That particular ZIP code has the ignominious reputation of being the worst ZIP code for premature death,” said Lynn Hersey, operations manager for Good Samaritan Health Services, which provides mobile health units for medically underserved Tulsans.“Much of that we understand is because of their limited access to health care,” she said.

Transportation in the 74126 is a hardship for many residents of the area. Many do not own a car, and bus routes are not user-friendly, Hersey said.

Compare the area to the 74055 ZIP code of Owasso and it is like a different country. Owasso has two hospitals, loads of doctors and at least a couple of urgent-care centers.

“People in the 74126 ZIP code have a 14-year less life expectancy than the rest of the city,” said Dr. Donald Tyler, pastor of Greater Grace Temple, 1010 E. 56th St. North. “There is no medical facility within six miles of this building.”

Beginning Tuesday, the church will be the site of the North Tulsa Health Clinic. The clinic will be held 10 a.m. to noon weekly.

“We’ve been blessed with the opportunity to open this clinic,” Tyler said. “It’s very critical to the people here.”

The 74126 may arguably be the worst area in a state that ranks last in the country for its health status.

But there are other Tulsa areas where the health care need is great.

Much of east and west Tulsa get medical care served up through a patchwork system of mobile medical units and health clinics in stores and schools, if they get the care they need at all.

“Mini-clinics certainly play a role in acute care. It’s not a bad fix,” said Dr. Gerard Clancy, president of the Uni versity of Oklahoma-Tulsa.

But he said these clinics cannot take the place of a primary physician or an emergency room.

“These short-term clinics really don’t have a role in helping with the long-term care of chronic patients,” he said.

Without routine care, these patients’ conditions worsen and require emergency care, Clancy said.

Said Hersey, “We are overwhelmed in Tulsa. We don’t have a hospital for the indigent. We only have two federally funded clinics. Last I heard, we could have four,” she said.

Going mobile: More mobile health units and clinics located in retail stores such as Wal-Mart have sprung up in an attempt to fill in the primary care gap.

OU-Tulsa has its Sooner Schooner II mobile health clinic. OSU Health Sciences Center has its Dr. Pete mobile telemedicine clinic. And Wal-Mart has a handful of Redi-Clinics.

“I can tell you that the initial response to our clinics was that we are meeting a need,” said Deisha Galberth, Wal-Mart spokeswoman. “The clinics provide more access and more affordability for our customers.”

Wal-Mart has two Redi-Clinics in Oklahoma, one in a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Owasso and one in Broken Arrow, she said.

The company plans to open another 400 across the country in the next two to three years, and some of those will be in Oklahoma, Galberth said.

“We don’t look at our clinics as a replacement for primary care, but as a supplement,” she said.

Yet patients often use these clinics for their primary care needs anyway.

Emergency rooms are crowded, and getting care can mean waiting for hours.

“Hospitals are so glutted with indigent patients,” Hersey said. Good Samaritan sends mobile units to 13 locations throughout the city, she said.

“In all of our locations, we’re seeing a large number of working poor and a growing number of people from rural areas,” Hersey said. “Many are embarrassed to come.”

By the time many people get to the clinic, their illness or injury often has become more complicated, she said.

Help coming: But health care in west and north Tulsa will become more accessible soon. The Tulsa branches of OSU and OU are building superclinics; OSU near its hospital downtown and OU in north Tulsa.

The Tulsa City-County Health Department plans to open a multidisciplinary clinic in north Tulsa between 36th Street North and 56th Street North near Cincinnati Avenue.

Until then, though, many Tulsans and their health conditions will fall through the cracks.

Good Samaritan sees more than 500 patients in a month at its locations and often has to turn people away due to the lack of resources, said Hersey.

“What health care resources we do have become overwhelmed very quickly,” she said. “The need is great.”

Find a nearby mobile health clinic

• Good Samaritan Health Services: Call 493-7884 or go to www.tulsaworld.com/ goodsamaritan and click on medical sites.
• University Oklahoma’s Sooner Schooner: 660-3614
• Oklahoma State University’s Mobile Telemedicine Clinic: 561-1113

Town hall discussion

What: TheTulsa City-County Health Department hosting a town hall discussion on health inequities that exist in Tulsa.

When: 2-3:30 p.m. Monday

Where: Central Center at Centennial Park, 1028 E. Sixth St.

Who: Speakers will include local Health Department Executive Director Gary Cox, state Health Commissioner Michael Crutcher, Indian Health Care Resource Center Executive Director Carmelita Skeeter, Community Health Connection Executive Director Laurie Paul and Good Samaritan Health Services President and CEO John Crouch Jr.
Source: Tulsa World