Clinics for the Tonkawa residents have come and gone over the years. While it is a rural community and isn’t as large as some of its neighbors, there is still a need for medical care within the community. Stillwater Medical has seen that need and they are looking to fill it.Formerly the JT Health building, 105 E Grand will be welcoming a new clinic in the upcoming weeks. Because the space was a clinic in the past, there was no need for Stillwater Medical to do any remodeling or anything of the sorts. The only thing to be done now is moving equipment before the clinic can open its doors, which has made the process that much quicker. The tentative opening time frame for the clinic is mid-September.Tonkawa residents can expect this new clinic to provide any and all primary care services. Any sickness, small injuries, burns, and things of the like can be treated out of this facility. Tracy Ogden, a nurse practitioner and Tonkawa resident, will be the provider in the clinic. Stillwater Medical’s plan for now is to open one day a week, Thursdays, to see people, but they do hope to increase their amount of working days as the volume of patients grows.When asked why Stillwater Medical decided to plant roots in Tonkawa, clinic administrator and Tonkawa resident Danen Everly said, “We saw the need. Tonkawa has had some sporadic health care over the years and it’s a community with a lot of young kids, the college, and there’s also a large elderly population that maybe doesn’t have the transportation to be able to go outside of Tonkawa for healthcare. We really have a passion for rural healthcare and we saw a need here in Tonkawa and so we wanted to open a clinic so that we could provide the citizens with healthcare.”The people need accessible healthcare and Stillwater Medical plans to give them just that. From the newto- town college students at Northern Oklahoma College to the elderly who have been here their whole lives, Stillwater Medical’s clinic doors will be open to everyone in the community.
