The Lawton Constitution 06/18/2014

June 19, 2014 7:45 pm /

BY KW HILLIS
STAFF WRITER
KWHILLIS@SWOKNEWS.COM
The Comanche County
Memorial Hospitals budget
for fiscal year 2015 was ap-
proved by the Comanche
County Hospital Authority
Board of Trustees Tuesday
afternoon, according to
Randy Segler, the hospitals
chief executive officer.
Segler said total net rev-
enues, not net income, after
deductions are $230,124,976
and our total expenditures
are $225,502,532 about a 3
percent increase from last
years budget. As the num-
ber of patients using the
hospital increases so do the
net revenues and expendi-
tures, he said.
Budgets and moves
The 2015 budgets for the
Lawton Community Health
Center and for McMahon-
Tomlinson Nursing Center
were also approved.
The health centers oper-
ating budget of $3,598,027 is
a break-even budget be-
cause that is what the feder-
al government wants. At the
end of the day we break
even, he said. Net revenue
from patients including
Medicare, Medicaid and in-
surance is $2,819,238 and
federal funding is $778,789.
The Lawton Community
Health Center (LCHC) is
planning to move in late
July from 3811 W. Gore to
5604 W. Lee, the site of the
Great Plains Ambulatory
Surgery Center. The move
was approved by the hospi-
tals board of trustees dur-
ing the May board meeting.
We will be moving into
the part that is vacant now.
LCHC needs more room and
we need space for the CCMH
Osteopathic Family Medi-
cine Residency Program,
Segler said. The three-year
program will work in part-
nership with the Oklahoma
State University College of
Osteopathic Medicine. Four
new doctors will be in their
first year of residency at the
program beginning in July.
The health center will
close down for four or five
days in July for the move.
Letters will go out to those
who use the facilities and
the actual dates of closure
will be announced in July.
The 2015 budget for the
McMahon Tomlinson Nurs-
ing Center lists a net rev-
enue of $8,069,024, with ex-
penses of $8,345,611, he
said.
The additional expenses
are due to the transition
from the old nursing center
(3126 NW Arlington) to the
new center (Northwest
52nd Street) and running
two centers for a short peri-
od of time as the transition
occurs, Segler said. The
move should take place on
Sept. 1, but it is based on the
exact finish date of con-
struction.
Staffing
We are very pleased that
Psychiatrist Dr. Carl E.
Fougerosse will be joining
the LCHC staff on July 1,
working with the general
psychiatric patients,
Segler said.
A total of eight applica-
tions for privileges at the
hospital and seven at Memo-
rial Hospital and Physician
Group in Frederick were
approved by the board dur-
ing the May and June board
meetings. Four voluntary
resignations were accepted.
Those with approved
privileges at Memorial in-
clude Kahlene Christenson,
neonatal nurse practitioner;
Fougerosse; Nakeda L. Hall,
advanced practice regis-
tered nurse (APRN) for
CCMH Memorial Medical
Groups (MMG) Minor
Emergency Clinic; Dr.
Farhat Husain,
neurology/telestroke; Dr.
Jimmy Michael Kerley, ra-
diation oncology; Dr. Ma-
jorie Makoni, neonatology;
Jennifer Burbage, APRN
for MMC Minor Emergency
Clinic; and Dr. Annie Ghara-
petian, emergency medi-
cine.
Those approved in Fred-
erick include Dr. Donald
Thomas Brock, emergency
medicine; Lavetrice J.
Steele, physician assistant;
three teleradiologists
Drs. Sonni Smitha, Morgan
Haile and Matthew
Mendlick; and emergency
room doctors Mustafa Hy-
der and Michael Rada.
Voluntary resignations
approved by the board in-
clude Kathryn Heimer, cer-
tified nurse practitioner;
Dr. Robert Frantz, emer-
gency medicine; Dr. Robert
Andrews, teleradiologist;
and Dr. Maria Neuner,
emergency medicine.
Bids approved
The board awarded two
contracts on Tuesday and
one contract during the May
board meeting.
On Tuesday, the contract
for a virtual desktop com-
puting solution was award-
ed to ISG Technology for
$252,238 and a contract for
a commercial rooftop air
conditioning unit replace-
ment was awarded to
TRANE for $101,730.
The air conditioner unit is
to replace a broken one that
cools some of the offices at
the old McMahon Tomlinson
Nursing Center. Those living
at the center have not been
affected by the broken unit,
Segler said.
During the May meeting,
the contract for a high-reso-
lution ultrasound system
was awarded to GE Health-
care for $91,436.
The board also approved,
during the May meeting, ex-
panding Memorials service
to Cotton County pending ap-
proval of Cotton County.
1D WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014 LOCAL & STATE
S ERVING L AWTON , F T . S ILL & B EYOND
(580) 351-0000
6425 NW C ACHE R D . S UITE 210
MAY 15 TH - J ULY 31 ST
FREE FO U N DATIO N REPAIR
( U P TO $3000.00)
MUST HAVE SIGNED CONTRACT OR WORK
COMPLETED BY J ULY 31 ST
Published in
The Lawton Constitution
June 18, 2014
2013 Annual Drinking Water Report
City of Lawton
DISTRIBUTION TESTING
MEDICINE PARK FACILITY
SOUTHEAST FACILITY
5% 5% 5% 5% 5%
R E -E LECT S TRICKLAND
FOR A SSESSOR
Pol. ad paid for by Richard Strickland
I Have Stopped Yearly
Tax Increases
5%
1010 SW D Avenue 248-1315 Lawton
25
%
25
%
TO
50
%
50
%
OFF
In-Stock
Merchandise Only
Mon. - Fri. 8-5 Sat. 9-1
Pre-Market
Board OKs Memorial Hospital budget
CONTINUED FROM 1A
visiting his girlfriend. In-
vestigators said he was ran-
domly targeted by bored
teenagers. Lane had been
preparing to enter his sen-
ior baseball season at East
Central University in Ada.
Edwards testified that
Jones was driving the car
and swerved toward Lane
when Luna pulled the trig-
ger of a .22-caliber revolver
and then sped away to hide
the evidence. The gun has-
nt been recovered. Another
Duncan man, Oddesse John
David Barnes, 22, was
charged in April with a
felony count of accessory af-
ter first-degree murder.
Barnes is accused of ditch-
ing the gun. He is scheduled
to return to court July 30.
Hicks told the court pre-
viously that if Edwards tes-
tified truthfully in both
Lunas and Jones trials that
his murder charge would be
dropped. Tuesdays motion
stated that it is in the best
interests of justice that this
matter be dismissed and
that the State be allowed to
proceed against Edwards in
the juvenile division of the
Stephens County District
Court.
Evidence gathered since
the killing tends to further
implicate Chancey Luna
and Michael Jones and fur-
ther casts doubt on the role
of Edwards in the murder of
Christopher Lane, accord-
ing to the motion.
Because the charge is in
juvenile court, records in
the Edwards case are
sealed. There is also a gag
order in place.
Edwards mother, Brenda
Edwards, said following the
closed-door court hearing
on Tuesday that her heart
goes out to all the families
involved.
I never got a chance to
acknowledge the Christo-
pher Lane family and I just
wanted to make that ac-
knowledgement, said
Brenda Edwards, who had
been in prison for drug
charges and was released in
April, according to the Okla-
homa Department of Cor-
rections website.
Additional reporting by
The Associated Press
DUNCAN:
Two face
prosecution
in murder
BY MALINDA RUST
STAFF WRITER
MRUST@LAWTON-CONSTITUTION.COM
A man accused of strik-
ing and killing a pedestrian
in west Lawton has been
scheduled for trial this fall.
Records show Bryan
Blackaby, 25, pleaded not
guilty Tuesday to first-de-
gree manslaughter and leav-
ing the scene of a fatality col-
lision in relation to the April
22 death of Troy McGee, 47.
An affidavit alleges Blacka-
by struck McGee around
midnight while the victim
was walking in the 5200
block of Northwest Cache
Road. A local bodyshop em-
ployee told authorities
Blackaby brought his truck
to him the next morning ask-
ing for repairs because he
struck a dog, but the witness
called police after hearing
news of McGees death.
Blackaby could be facing up
to life in prison.
The court previously or-
dered Blackaby held in lieu
of a $100,000 bond, but at-
torney Mike Corrales filed a
motion May 21 to reduce
bond on grounds Blackaby
is a longtime resident of the
county with family and a lo-
cal business in Lawton, has
hired an attorney and that
similar cases have prompt-
ed the court to set bond at
$20,000. Blackaby was re-
leased last month on $70,000
bond.
Trial set in
hit-and-run
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)
A class-action lawsuit
asks an Oklahoma County
judge to nullify a 1989 Cor-
poration Commission order
that set telephone rates for
a predecessor company of
telecommunications giant
AT&T.
The lawsuit was filed
Tuesday by Sody Clements,
mayor of the affluent Okla-
homa City suburb of
Nichols Hills, and retired
Lt. Gen. Richard Burpee,
former commander of the
Oklahoma City Air Logis-
tics Center at Tinker Air
Force Base.
The lawsuit asks that the
rate case be voided, alleging
the 2-1 vote that approved it
was tainted by a bribe paid
to former Commissioner
Bob Hopkins. Hopkins and
an attorney for the phone
company were convicted on
federal bribery charges.
The Oklahoma Supreme
Court in 2010 rejected a re-
quest by Corporation Com-
missioner Bob Anthony to
reopen the case.
AT&T officials had no im-
mediate comment.
Class-action
lawsuit
attacks 1989
rate order
DELAWARE (AP) Au-
thorities are investigating
after an Oklahoma Highway
Patrol trooper fatally shot a
man in northeastern Okla-
homa.
The shooting happened
Monday morning in the
Nowata County town of
Delaware.
Trooper fatally
shoots man