Federal funding will bring a hospital to Frederick for the first time in 12 years

FREDERICK — Someone suffering a medical emergency in Frederick may have to wait almost an hour to get to a critical care hospital.

Sometimes that wait is too long: the community has documented eight deaths from heart attacks or strokes because residents couldn’t get to an emergency room in time, said Lloyd Benson, a former House speaker and longtime attorney who is involved with local efforts to return a full-service hospital to the community.

That’s why action by the U.S. House earlier this week to designate $6 million to Frederick for construction of a hospital is important. The announcement came Wednesday from U.S. Fourth District Congressman Tom Cole, one of the legislators who has been involved in the effort to bring Frederick residents a hospital, Benson said. If the funding does arrive, it’s possible ground will be broken on that hospital by year’s end.

Benson said the lack of a critical care hospital is important from multiple aspects, beginning with the simple fact that sometimes, someone suffering a life-threatening emergency can’t wait the 45 minutes it takes to get to Jackson County Memorial Hospital in Altus or almost hour to get to Comanche County Memorial Hospital in Lawton. The community has taken steps to help residents: there is a clinic in town and some firefighters are trained in emergency medical response. But, Frederick needs a hospital, Benson said.

In addition to immediate care, a hospital is a factor in the decision to live in Frederick.

“We have a lot of people who reach retirement age and have moved as a result of not having a hospital. We really need to have access to health care,” Benson said, adding it also is a matter of economic development because workers want accessible health care.

Frederick had a hospital for decades, most recently, under an agreement the community reached with Comanche County Memorial Hospital in the early 1990s. Fast forward 23 years, and problems expanded to the point that the patient load and medical personnel needed to keep the hospital viable were not there. Comanche County Memorial Hospital closed the hospital in 2016. Comanche County Memorial Hospital still operates the community’s health clinic, but Benson said residents know they need a hospital.

“We’ve been trying to get several different entities to reopen the hospital,” he said, adding that goal encountered obstacles.

One of the biggest: Frederick didn’t meet the definition of lacking a critical access hospital. Federal law specified there can’t be a critical access hospital within 35 miles of Frederick, and Vernon, Texas, to the southwest “was three miles too close,” Benson said. Working with Cole, former Sen. Jim Inhofe and Sen. James Lankford resulted in a waiver that specified critical access hospitals must be accessible by four-lane roads — and Vernon is not. In addition, Wilbarger General Hospital doesn’t accept Health Choice (Oklahoma’s health care provider) or Medicaid from Oklahoma.

“It was never a viable hospital,” Benson said, of the problems caused by federal regulations designating Vernon as the hospital Frederick could use.

With that problem resolved, the community has been putting together funding for what Comanche County Memorial Hospital estimates will be a $12 million to $13 million project. The congressional earmark will provide the final funding piece, Benson said, and Comanche County Memorial Hospital has indicated it is ready to hire an architect.

“Hopefully, we’ll begin to break ground later in the year,” Benson said, of what is expected to be a one-year construction project.

The new hospital will be on the grounds of the old one. The building still is there, but only the clinic area is still viable, Benson said. So, a new structure with a 6-10 bed emergency room will be built. The site was attractive because it already has the infrastructure needed for the hospital, plus enough room for a new structure.

Comanche County Memorial Hospital will operate the hospital and Tillman County residents will be asked to approve a 1-cent sales tax to cover operating costs.

“We’re confident it will pass,” Benson said of the proposal that will give the community a hospital for the first time in 12 years.

Benson said the hospital project is coming to fruition due to the efforts of multiple people, including the congressional delegation, state farm services director Kenneth Corn and State Rep. Trey Caldwell.

“He’s been a bulldog with this project,” Benson said of Caldwell, adding Corn helped identify funding. “Everybody is working hard on this project.”