Surrounded by local dignitaries and clinic physicians and staff, Chief Gary Batton cuts a ribbon symbolizing the grand opening of the Ruben White Health Clinic in Poteau, OK.
Choctaw Nation Health Clinic Opens in Poteau
By Brandon Frye
Choctaw Nation
Poteau, Okla. - Chief Gary Batton cut through a red ribbon July 2, 2015 at 10 a.m., symbolizing the opening of an extensive expansion to the Ruben White Health Clinic in Poteau.
Dignitaries including Poteau Mayor Jeff Shockley, Poteau city council members Jimmy Holstead and Tommy Robinson, and District 4 royalty Junior Miss Jase Cassey and Little Miss Gracie Mattox, attended the ribbon cutting.
Representatives from Manhattan Group Construction, which built the new facility, were also present alongside the physicians and staff of the clinic.
Teresa Jackson, Senior Executive Officer for Choctaw Health Services, said this expansion was needed in Poteau because it will provide many of the services found at the hospital in Talihina to locals, without their having to make a longer drive.
“This is for you, our tribal members,” Chief Gary Batton said. “We want to provide the best health care to our members. We want to improve health so you can have long life, that’s what it’s all about.”
According to Todd Hallmark, Executive Director of Health Operations, the health clinic was already offering services such as a family practice, pediatrics, and pharmacy prescription refills but the expansion has made more services available.
These new services include an employee clinic, offering emergency health care to employees, their spouses, and their children. This new employee clinic will draw in workers from the travel plazas, casinos, recycling center, and everyone else working for the Choctaw Nation in and around Poteau.
New also is the optometry office, which will provide two optometrists for tribal members.
A physical therapy program is now housed at the back of the expansion. Included in the rehabilitation equipment is a physical therapy pool with a treadmill and current-based resistance—a first for the tribe.
Behavioral health was expanded and will now offer more counselors to tribal members.
Open for recreational use, as well as rehabilitation, are the new wellness center and half-court basketball gym. Treadmills, free weights, and other workout machines are now available.