Press Releases
Services for Dr. Joe Witten Announced
Posted on Monday, April 11th, 2022
Dr. Joe Witten - Family Photo 2021
A Celebration of the Life of Dr. Joe Witten will be 2 p.m. Saturday, April 23, 2022, at Flanagan-Watts Funeral Home Chapel, 100 E. Main, Marietta, OK.
Dr. Joe Witten, 54, Fought Hard for Life
Posted on Wednesday, April 6th, 2022
Dr. Joe A. Witten
Dr. Joe A. Witten, age 54, a family physician at Mercy Health Love County Clinic, passed away on Thursday, March 31, 2022, in Oklahoma City. He was born September 23, 1967, in Midwest City, OK. Services are pending with Bill Merritt Funeral Home in Bethany, OK.
Dr. Witten had been on medical leave since the end of January after suffering a stroke at home, his wife, Ann Witten, said. Part of his recovery was participating in outpatient physical and occupational therapy from the hospital’s rehabilitation specialists in the therapy building.
“He was recovering and planned to return to work,” Ann Witten said, adding that her husband had been admitted for cardiology care at OU Health on March 18. He died of congestive heart failure, she said.
Former colleagues expressed sadness over Dr. Witten’s passing. Misti Kirk is director of the clinic. “We will miss him greatly. He was loved by his patients and coworkers,” she said.
Dr. Terry Jones, whose clinic office was next to Dr. Witten’s, said, “I will miss discussing medical cases with him. He always helped share ideas and diagnoses.”
“He had a huge heart. Patients just loved him,” said Dr. Margaret Western.
“He did whatever he could to help anybody, and he was highly-qualified in medicine,” said nursing director Marie Ross.
“Dr. Witten was very much appreciated. He did a lot of good for a lot of patients,” said hospital administrator Scott Callender.
Dr. Witten had over 21 years of...
ER Welcome New Physician Assistant
Posted on Wednesday, March 16th, 2022
Mercy Health Love County welcomes Jessica Collins, PA-C, a new Physician Assistant in the emergency department.
Collins brings 13 years of experience in both hospital and emergency room care.
She graduated from the Physician Assistant Program of OU Health in 2008, and holds an undergraduate degree in biology from the
University of Central Oklahoma.
Raised in Oklahoma City, Collins started out teaching high school science at Yukon High School. The desire to do hands-on medicine led her to the two-year PA program, where she received a master’s of
health science degree.
While working fulltime in a hospitalist practice at St. Anthony’s in Oklahoma City, Collins gained part-time experience in rural emergency rooms at El Reno
and Idabel.
“Rural medicine has a lot of appeal to me because there is a real need for practitioners,” Collins said. “It has been a pleasure to join the Marietta hospital because all who work here enjoy their jobs and like to help out.”
Collins’ family includes husband Roger and sons Taylor, 25, and Haden, 19.
