A rural county in Southwest Oklahoma is one step closer to bringing a hospital back to its residents, who have had to drive about 40 miles to receive hospital-level care since it lost its facility in 2016.
Tillman County is set to break ground on a critical access hospital Aug. 26 in Frederick. That hospital will have two emergency treatment rooms, five inpatient beds, a laboratory, radiology, and space for support service.
Rep. Trey Caldwell (R-Lawton) is one of the lawmakers behind the effort. He said bringing a hospital back to the area — one of five Oklahoma counties without a general medical and surgical hospital — was one of his top priorities since being elected in 2018.
“The crux of the problem has been how do we make sure that this hospital is going to be sustainable long-term, the next 30 to 50 years? Because it does no one any good if we spend $10-15 million and build a new hospital, and then we have to shut it down in three years because it doesn't (have) cash flow,” Caldwell said.
Caldwell said Oklahoma worked with U.S. Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) to help the facility get a critical access designation, which can reduce financial vulnerability through enhanced reimbursements. He said Frederick didn’t immediately qualify because it was too close to another hospital.
Lankford worked to change the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services language on how close a critical access hospital can be to another hospital via a primary road, allowing Frederick to qualify for financial support under the designation.
Frederick is also partnering with Comanche County Memorial Hospital —a public trust entity based in Comanche County — that will operate as its sister institution. Caldwell said this means it will own some of the hospital's assets and help fill in potential physician shortages.
Caldwell said the state found funding locally and federally, and Tillman County plans on a sales tax expansion vote, which could be used for physician recruitment and retention.
He said the hospital will be a game-changer.
“I think it’s the shot in the arm that the community of Frederick and Tillman County need,” Caldwell said.
