STEVEN RECKINGER/Tulsa World
GLENPOOL - Residents of Glenpool and neighboring communities in about 18 months will no longer have to travel to Tulsa for emergency room visits, X-rays or lab work.
On Tuesday, Saint Francis Health System officials announced plans for construction of a $23 million, 49,000-square-foot Glenpool health-care complex.
With an estimated completion in spring of 2017, the facility will be located at the southeast corner of U.S. 75 and West 151st Street. Groundwork has begun on the 15-acre parcel.
The two-story facility will house an emergency center open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and will be staffed by board-certified emergency medicine physicians. Unscheduled visits, such as urgent care, will be welcomed as well.
Emergency services will be comparable to Saint Francis Hospital South with ambulance access, eight exam rooms and one trauma bay, officials said.
"It is an exciting day for us as we break ground not only on a new facility, but on a new type of health-care option we will be offering northeastern Oklahoma," said Jake Henry Jr., president and CEO of Saint Francis Health Center, during a news conference at the Glenpool Conference Center.
"In a way, besides being a key health-care facility for the Glenpool area, it will be a bit of research and development for us in the sense that northeastern Oklahoma has not had a free-standing, level three emergency center."
Henry described the Glenpool complex as a first of its type in the region to support "clinical integration" — the progression from pre-care, with doctors, urgent care centers, emergency centers — to acute care (hospital care) to aftercare (skilled nursing facilities, rehabilitation facilities and home care).
"I think this facility is one more marker of our tradition and our commitment of our caring for the various communities that we do serve," Henry said. "We are particularly pleased to be in Glenpool — a city whose residents have long looked to Saint Francis for their care but now won't need to go to 91st (Street) and (U.S.) 169 or 61st (Street) and Yale (Avenue) for all of that care."
In addition to the emergency center, a new Warren Clinic facility will be located on the second floor, providing area residents access to more primary care physicians. Henry said they anticipate the doctor presence to grow at the Warren Clinic through the years.
Services at the facility will include: emergency care, primary care physicians, outpatient services, women's services (mammography, bone density measurement), physical therapy, occupational therapy, diagnostic imaging services and laboratory services.
Mayor Tim Fox, a 32-year resident of Glenpool, said the facility is a major achievement for the community.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I think that we would have this sort of access for our citizens," he said.
Fox considers the development key in creating a full-service community.
"Today we celebrate a major milestone for our city and a major step forward for access to better health care in our area," he said. "Saint Francis Health Care System's investment in Glenpool means our residents and those in the surrounding areas can get the highest level of care right here in Glenpool."
After completion, the health-care center is estimated to bring 50-60 full-time jobs to the area.
Posted on Wednesday, September 16, 2015 7:55 am.