Area between Douglas and Post on SE 29th street

[grandshoemaster]

I drive this way to and from work everyday and the south side of 29th in particular looks pretty bad. There are a couple trailer parks closer to Post that are in terrible condition. I have nothing against trailer parks, but there are multiple ones that aren't being used, with boarded up windows and no under pinning. I believe this is OKC city limits. There is another trailer park southeast of McDonalds that is closing at the end of the month. The old Lee's RV building just north of McDonald's has just been recently taken down. I pulled up there one day while they were working on it to see if there was any plans for redevelopment and asked one of the guys. He said that since it was in Tinkers flight pattern, they were removing it. It didn't make much sense since it has been vacant for over a year and just south of Lee's is a new St. Anthony's right across from Tinker.

Does anyone know if in fact they are clearing this area for Tinker or is there some type of development project that is about to happen? Everywhere else around this area is starting to come around, but since this area also borders I-40, I would think a strip mall or something of sorts would go in over there.

[bombermwc]

It's not being cleared....it's not flight pattern area either. The landing area is over 29th between midwest and douglas....Glenwood. Of course some folks with the Air Force would like to claim half of oklahoma county for their "zone", but it's a load of crap. Check out an airport in any city...ie O'Hare in Chicago. So many cities have airports with FAR MORE TRAFFIC with 6 story structures right up to the fences.

But it's just a crap area. Consider it lukcy that as things like the trailer park and old motel are emptied, that they are cleared and left as a lot. That motel was falling apart for decades...or actually more than 50 years...before it was finally dozed.

[oneforone]

The main reason flight path is a concern is because that is one of the factors looked at when BRAC comes to town looking for a reason to close the base. If the flight path were a true safety issue they would clear everything from the base to NE 36th street. A couple of nights ago I was on NE 23rd driving through the light at Spencer Road there was an aircraft flying low enough that it would not make it to the established safety zone if it something were to go wrong.

Truth be told Tinker has nothing to worry about when it comes to BRAC. They are in a state with an affordable labor pool and base officers and managers operate a cost effective operation based on Department of Defense standards.

[plmccordj]

I have an opinion about the Eastland Hills Trailer park. I have nothing to base this opinion on other than just my opinion and knowing human nature. That land is part of the city of Oklahoma City but in 2001 it was taken over by the Midwest City Memorial Hospital Authority, an organization that engages in political activisim and pro Midwest City activities. Despite the name, they are not Midwest Regional Hospital. In 2002 it was taken over by the city of Midwest City. I don't remember which thread I read but I do remember someone saying they were making everyone move out.
As most of you know, St. Anthony Healthplex East just opened last week across the freeway and directly across from building 3001 at Tinker. I know that early on when this hospital (emergency room) was proposed, there were two groups of people that came out against it. One was Tinker AFB officials because the original plans had a helipad associated with it. St. Anthony scrapped that idea and Tinker agreed. The other group was Midwest Regional Medical Center for obvious reasons. Nevertheless the city of Oklahoma City approved and the facility was built.

If you have ever been to Tinker you probably know there is not a day that goes by that a Midwest Regional ambulance is not taking someone to the hospital for a heart attack or something. This has to be a huge benifet to Midwest Regional. Now we have a brand new emergency room directly across the street for all those lucrative ambulance calls to go to. I know Midwest Regional must be scared to death that they may lose a lot of that business. It is my opinion that Eastland Hills Trailer park will be the first outreach facility that Midwest Regional Medical Center has. Again, this is nothing but my opinion. It is sort of like every time CVS puts in a pharmacy, there is a Walgreens that appears shortly after or vice versa.

I have noticed that one by one, the city has been putting concrete barriers across the driveways of going East down SE 29th. Again, I have nothing to go on but opinion, but I do see where this area is being prepped for future development. If you look at the 2007 bond election you will see where the city has already paid to widen SE 29th to five lanes all the way to Anderson Road. Also Anderson Road from SE 29th to SE 89th is on the list to be widened to four lanes. Choctaw Road is also on the list to be widened to four lanes from SE 29th to SE 89th. In fact, I saw the survey guy at the end of my street, across from the Sonic at I-40 and Choctaw and I asked him if they were building things. He said he was doing survey work to widen Choctaw Road. You can look it up on the OKC web site. When you add to this, the city is putting in a brand new 60 inch water line down Douglas Blvd, all indications to me show that the city of Oklahoma City is expecting development in this area in the near future.

[grandshoemaster]

plmccordj:

Thanks for the info! I appreciate it.

[bombermwc]

I saw a commercial for MRMC yesterday. They are telling people "you don't want to go there because there aren't any surgery rooms, specialist physicians, etc". But these things are meant for non-life-threatening events. All the crap that fills up the ER that makes you wait 3 hours to be seen. Broken Arms, bad fevers, stitches, etc. That tells me MRMC is worried between this and the Heart Hospital opening, that the two new ER's in town are going to be too much competition.

[oneforone]

I have a feeling St. Anthony will likely build med surge units on to this facility. The freestanding ER is way to test the water to see if there is enough traffic to support another hospital. If not they will likely remain an ER or an Advanced Urgent Care. I am just wondering what the billing rates are out there. I am sure they are not going to be very friendly to those with no insurance. I am also willing to bet that since there is no hospital attached this gives them a little wiggle room with EMTALA. They will be able to turn away the patients with no cash or insurance who have a minor ailment. They can refer them to their campus downtown or provide transportation. Which most people will opt not use they will just go to Midwest or Southwest.

In regards to Midwest, I think it's a facility bigger then HMA can handle. I had friend pass away there almost a year ago. I noticed the place looked aged and many rooms were empty. The vents in the waiting room were dirty and the TV was old tube TV that looked like it was about burn out.

HMA did sign a management agreement to run some of the rural Integris facilities under the Integris banner. It makes me wonder if there might be a little swap about to happen in exchange for Midwest Regional. If that is the case Midwest will see a total makeover.

[bombermwc]

I totally agree oneforone. The folks with Saints aren't dumb...in fact they are very savy business folks that know how to run things very well...and get what they want. The masterplan for both new ER locations includes room for at least another building of the same size. That leaves plenty room for things other than just doctor's offices..ie surgery, delivery, etc. So who knows.

As for MWC, I think maybe you just went to a bad example area. They've put some money into the place for facelift remodels lately. They redid a lot of stuff when they added the ridiculous baseball cap of 2 floors on the top. The ER has wood-like laminate flooring now, which looks very nice (i wonder why they put some money into the ER lately...hmmmm). But they had repainted and other things during construction as well. But a whole facility doesn't change over night. Mercy has been going wing by wing remodeling for what almost 10 years now. The new areas are great, but it's not fast by any means.

MRMC definitely is a flagship facility for HMA. If it's not THE largest, it's in the top 5 for them. They are predominantly small facilities around the 150 bed mark....or at least they used to be. I haven't checked up on them in a long time to know where they stand now. They do seem to be doing things better than they had in quite a long time, but they still lack momentum. The site masterplan has NEEDED to be completed for a decade, and never moved on (ie the old Target). They're so spread out all over MWC, it's just crazy. If they would simply build a good parking garage across Parklawn, they could build all of the new facilties over the old wing...or attach to it, and put in a skybridge. The folks at Baptist walk further, but at least they are protected by the garages and walkways. That would free up a lot of space on-site by having the new tower and consolidating the physicians to Target would make things much easier for going to the hospital...and you could include diagnostic services at that facility instead of the hospital (for the outpatient work) so you wouldn't have to take up space at the faciltiy for things like abdominal ultrasounds or whatever. I'm rambling.....

[plmccordj]

If you look at all the land East of Douglas almost all the way to Post, the land is owned by Midwest City Memorial Hospital Authority, a political organization not affiliated with the actual hospital. They have cleared out all of the businesses and blocked off the entrances. I am wondering if this organization is just sitting on the land so any potential developer will build in Midwest City instead of that land which is actually in Oklahoma City. If so, that would be ashamed. It appears there are no plans to develop any of that land but just sitting on it so as to make sure it is off the market for anyone that would develop it. On the web site their purpose appears to be suspect to me anyway...

"The council shall also serve as the Midwest City Memorial Hospital Authority, a public trust, created and established by a Trust Indenture dated July 1, 1961 for the use and benefit of the beneficiary (the City of Midwest City), to finance, operate, construct and administer hospital facilities, and for the public purposes hereinafter set forth. "

[bombermwc]

There have been several threads about this. The MCMH Authority started purchasing land long ago to prevent two major projects from happening:

1 - wal mart building on the OKC side of 29th back when they were moving from Air Depot to Midwest/Reno.
2 - integris from building a facility on the same land (see how St. Anthony got around the problem) - this used to be more of a major issue for MWC because the city used to own the hospital as well....so competition would mean money out of the city's budget. Since they city won't own it again for another 35-40 years, it's not as much of an issue.

The same group is responsible for Town Center on 29th. The plans were in the works back in the mid-90's. That's why the hospital was sold. Pure and simple cash for the "city". Yes the money went to the "authority", but as you can see, that's really just the city. The city also lost the eminent domain lawsuit after the fact and almost everything was already built because public power was used for what was really a private venture veiled in a thin disguise.

[mmonroe]

I've been to both hospitals in the past year, specifically, the ER.

As for the hospital bills, here is my experience:

Midwest Regional Medical Center:
ER Bill $968.00
Triage Bill $211.18
Physicians $374.02
Insurance Covered ER Bill up to $865.48 (BC/BS of OK)

(Tetanus shot, dropped rusty saw blade on foot, nasty gash, no stitches)

Waiting Room about 1.5 hours, not very busy

Time in ER Room, 3 hours

************************************************** ********************************************

St. Anthony's East:
ER Bill $1,216.61
Insurance Covered ER Bill up to $1,039.60 (BC/BS of OK)

(Box knife to the arm, 4 stitches)

Waiting Room about 10 minutes, not very busy

Time in ER Room, 50 minutes


************************************************** ********************************************


I will never go back to MWRMC EVER again. Who really needs to receive 3 bills from one incident.

[Dubya61]

Also no fan of MWRMC, although I received competent care there. While waiting in the ER, saw a man seizure and collapse in front of the triage station. Crickets for about 20 seconds. First responder? Another ER waiter. I'm sure this is a one-time event, and not characteristic of their general care, but don't want to find out.

[GaryOKC6]

I've been to both hospitals in the past year, specifically, the ER.

As for the hospital bills, here is my experience:

Midwest Regional Medical Center:
ER Bill $968.00
Triage Bill $211.18
Physicians $374.02
Insurance Covered ER Bill up to $865.48 (BC/BS of OK)

(Tetanus shot, dropped rusty saw blade on foot, nasty gash, no stitches)

Waiting Room about 1.5 hours, not very busy

Time in ER Room, 3 hours

************************************************** ********************************************

St. Anthony's East:
ER Bill $1,216.61
Insurance Covered ER Bill up to $1,039.60 (BC/BS of OK)

(Box knife to the arm, 4 stitches)

Waiting Room about 10 minutes, not very busy

Time in ER Room, 50 minutes


************************************************** ********************************************


I will never go back to MWRMC EVER again. Who really needs to receive 3 bills from one incident.

I am pretty accident prone and have had to get stitches on several occasions. I have learned to go to an urgent care clinic like FirstMed. I am in and out really quick. The bill is about a third of the cost as the ER and Blue Cross covers it all except my 20.00 co pay. Between my and my teenager we have been twice this year.

[bombermwc]

ER's are sort of a special case for billing. Remember the ER physicians don't actually work for the hospital. In almost all facilities, they are part of a group that is contracted out by the facility. I don't really know why that started but it's been that way for decades. So you'll see a bill from the hospital for the nursing staff, facility usage, and equipment (drugs, stitches, disinfectant, etc), and then another bill for the services rendered by the ER doctor.

I'm not trying to make up for MRMC or anything. But i do want you to have at least a balanced bit of info on the billing side. Urgent Cares don't work the same way, so you'll see more simplified billing. Beause they have a lower volume, they can usually get the bill turned around a lot faster (as well as the patient).