Health

Healthier Living in OKC
Oklahoma City has the quality of life that produces healthy, happy citizens. Oklahoma City has more than 140 miles of walking, running, bicycling and skating trails, with more than 30 miles of trails under construction. These trails make it possible for bicycle commuters to travel all the way from northwest Oklahoma City to downtown on designated bike paths. The MAPS 3 capital improvements package, passed in 2009, spent $40 million to construct even more new miles of trails.

Bluff Creek and Lake Stanley Draper, both located in Oklahoma City, have more than 15 miles of mountain biking and hiking trails.

Martin Park Nature Center offers guided hikes, education programs and an interactive learning center to help visitors learn about nature and wildlife. The park includes 2.5 miles of woodland trails and a visitor center with live animals and a nature learning library.

Three large lakes – Hefner, Draper and Overholser – provide outdoor recreational activities in and around each lake, including boating, fishing, biking and jogging trails and golf. Visit OKC.gov/lakes for more.

MAPS-3-funded senior health and wellness centers will soon occupy every quadrant of the city. Open to people ages 50 and up, the wellness centers include amenities to support and promote an active lifestyle, social interaction and overall quality of life for Oklahoma City adults. Two centers are already open, and two more are on the way. Click here for more.

The Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge at the north end of Lake Overholser is a pristine expanse of 1,000 acres. Hiking the area will put you in close contact with wildlife, not to mention beautiful views of lakes, bottomland forest and marshlands. The refuge’s trails can accommodate bicyclists or hikers. You can also rent kayaks or canoes and explore the North Canadian River/Oklahoma River through the refuge.

The Oklahoma River, a seven-mile stretch of the North Canadian River that runs through the heart of Oklahoma City, offers world-class canoeing, kayaking and standup paddle boarding. Nearby, an Olympic-level whitewater kayaking facility at the Boathouse District provides whitewater training and fun for both athletes and amateurs.

Mat Hoffman Action Sports Park is 26,000 square feet of terrain for skateboarding, in-line skating and BMX freestyle biking.

Paw Park, a two-acre, off-the-leash park recognized as one of the top 10 dog parks in the U.S., features a swimming pond and enclosures for both large and small dogs.

Oklahoma City is home to the annual Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon, held each April, which attracts more than 25,000 runners and walkers from all 50 states and several foreign countries.

Outstanding Medical Care
With one of the nation's leading heart transplant teams, one of the country's most complete medical research centers, and one of the medical profession's most respected eye institutes, area residents' access to health care is among the best. Oklahoma City is also home to one of only a handful of proton therapy centers in America, in addition to a comprehensive academic cancer research and treatment center. These facilities are on the cutting edge of battling cancer.

Oklahoma City residents can find quality health care at almost three dozen hospitals, with most providing specialty services in areas such as: oncology and hematology, orthopedics, burn treatment, hearing and vision care, neonatal care, infertility, spinal disorder care, sports medicine and after-hours urgent care.

The state's only Level 1 Trauma Center with MediFlight service is based in Oklahoma City, the perfect location for regional service. Medical leaders recently opened a Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Oklahoma City Diabetes Center, which will both bring even more cutting-edge technology, research, clinical care and alternative therapies to Oklahoma City.

And, the Oklahoma City area's thriving biosciences industry adds to the quality of health care, with organizations and businesses dedicated to the discovery, development and distribution of advanced technology to improve treatments and health.

INTEGRIS Health
INTEGRIS Health is the state’s largest Oklahoma-owned health care corporation and one of the state’ largest private employers, with hospitals, rehabilitation centers, physician clinics, mental health facilities, fitness centers, independent living centers and home health agencies throughout much of the state. Corporate headquarters are located on the campus of INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City. It is a not-for-profit corporation governed by a 19-member board of directors made up of business, medical and community leaders from across the state. INTEGRIS offer facilities throughout Oklahoma City

Integris offers care at these Oklahoma City facilities:

INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center
Opened Easter Sunday, 1959 as a 200-bed hospital, INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center has grown to a more than 500-bed facility offering comprehensive health-care programs and services.

INTEGRIS Southwest Medical Center has been a vital and growing part of the Oklahoma City community since its beginning in 1965. Formerly known as South Community Hospital, the facility has grown from a 73-bed community hospital to a comprehensive medical center offering a full range of medical, support and rehabilitation services with almost 400 beds.

INTEGRIS Jim Thorpe Rehabilitation at INTEGRIS Southwest Medical Center has 60 inpatient beds, while Jim Thorpe at INTEGRIS Baptist has more than 40 inpatient beds. Through team-based personal care, patients benefit from the expertise of physicians, therapists, nurses, psychologists, neuropsychologists, case managers, social workers and others specially trained in rehabilitation.

INTEGRIS Deaconess
For more than 100 years, Deaconess' team has worked to make Oklahomans healthier, happier and hopeful. They continue that mission today as part of the INTEGRIS health care system with new, expanded hospital facilities, a strong network of family practice physicians throughout the region, and the best technology available in healthcare.

INTEGRIS Deaconess has more than 300 licensed beds with 300 active physicians and 250 provisional physicians. They are also accredited by the Joint Commission and Commission on Accreditation of Rehab Facilities. Deaconess also offers family practice, podiatry, orthopedics, internal medicine, gastroenterology, otolaryngology, women’s health and cardiology.

Lakeside Women's Hospital, part of the INTEGRIS Network
Lakeside Women's Hospital is Oklahoma City's first full-service women's health care facility featuring many options not offered before in the same setting. It is health care exclusively designed for women.

ProCure Proton Therapy Center
The ProCure Proton Therapy Center in Oklahoma City provides patients with advanced radiation therapy in a supportive environment. The center is equipped with the most advanced proton therapy technology available. A team of experienced radiation oncologists and highly skilled medical professionals provide personalized patient care. In addition, ProCure is focused on ensuring patients' seamless care beyond proton therapy. The center is integrated with the new, state-of-the-art INTEGRIS Cancer Institute of Oklahoma, which is adjacent to the center and can provide any additional medical services one might need while undergoing proton therapy.

Mercy Hospital
Mercy Hospital implements and advocates for innovative health and social services to improve the health and quality of life of communities served, with particular concern for people who are economically disadvantaged.

Mercy is a full-service tertiary hospital and has 381 licensed beds, 2,788 co-workers and 878 physicians. Mercy provides the following services: BirthPlace, Breast Care, Cancer Resource Center, Day Surgery, Emergency Care, Gamma Knife, Home Care, Heart Care, Hospice, Multiple Sclerosis Center, NeuroScience Institute, Neonatal Intensive Care, Physical Medicine / Rehab Center, Urgent Care and a Women’s Center.

OU Medical Center
OU Medical Center, including The Children's Hospital at OU Medical Center, is Oklahoma's largest and most comprehensive hospital. It is in the heart of Oklahoma City, and it provides a full range of hospital services. Its unique services include The Children's Hospital, with Oklahoma's highest level Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, comprehensive cancer care including a Gamma Knife Center for treating brain tumors that can't be treated by conventional methods, a Bone Marrow Transplant Center and Oklahoma's newest and the NCI-designated OU’s Stephenson Cancer Center, one of the top 2 percent of cancer treatment centers in the nation.

Other unique services include Oklahoma's only Level One Trauma Center and three new Medi Flight air ambulances, including one dedicated to babies. Additional special services include high-risk and alternative pregnancy care, in the Women's & Newborn Pavilion, and a full range of heart care services including an internationally renowned electrophysiology laboratory for treating heart arrhythmias.

OU Medical Center is an academic medical center, which means it is a hospital that treats patients with the knowledge and skill on the forefront of new medical developments. Because OU Medicine physicians teach future physicians, they stay informed on the latest and most advanced procedures, treatments and medical knowledge. Their affiliated physicians are resources that other community doctors turn to when they need help with complicated diseases or injuries.

Many of their affiliated physicians are performing leading-edge research to discover or perfect new patient cures. Every day, they use the new treatments they have developed for your benefit.

Most recently, OU Medicine began construction on a state-of-the-art medical tower to meet demand for the highest level care. The new, 152-foot tower will be complete in 2020 and will feature 144 beds, 32 operating rooms, intensive care unit and more.

SSM Health
Opened in 1898 by two sisters from the order of the Sisters of St. Francis, St. Anthony, now known as SSM Health, was Oklahoma City's first hospital.

SSM Health is an award-winning hospital with a long-standing and ongoing commitment to excellence and quality. In 1998 and again in 2004, SSM Health was awarded with the Oklahoma Quality Award. In 2002, SSM Health Care was honored as the first health care system in the nation to receive the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige Award.