Press Releases
Hospital Elects New Board Chair
Posted on Monday, October 28th, 2024
Richard Barker of Marietta is the new chairman of the Love County Health Center Board of Control. Members Steve Smith, Andrea Locke, and Lenna Radde elected him to the post at a Board meeting on October 24.
Barker was hospital administrator from 1990 until his retirement in 2021. He was appointed to the Board in 2023. The members then voted to send to the Love County Commissioners the name of Connie Graham of Leon to fill the Board vacancy created by the recent death of former chair Dr. Jack Testerman.
Hospital Administrator Scott Callender reported on numerous progress steps on the road to fully resuming hospital operations, which have been limited since an April 27 tornado.
The clinic building reopened in June, and the full complement of doctors and nurses treat patients weekdays. The Therapy Building reopened in July. Physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy take place Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Radiology ultrasound treatments occur there on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The next service to resume will be a temporary emergency room on a site staked out south of the clinic on Legacy Park Lane. Bore holes were drilled last Friday in the first step toward construction, and the ER is expected to be up and running next spring.
The Growers Market building has a new roof and a plan for redesign to become the new home of Love County EMS Station 1.
The ambulance service has been operating temporarily from the former car dealership at...
Testerman was a Brilliant Leader
Posted on Tuesday, October 15th, 2024
Dr. Jack Testerman in 2022
The Love County Health Center Board of Control lost a brilliant chairman in the passing of Dr. Jack Testerman on September 29, 2024.
A professor of management, marketing, statistics, and entrepreneurship, Testerman brought a high level of knowledge to the office.
In failing health the past six months, Testerman conducted the September Board meeting at his home. He was 90 years old.
He had chaired the Board since 2013 and he had served as a member for an amazing 34 years, having first been appointed by the Love County Commissioners on March 1, 1990.
The Love County native held a PhD in statistics from the University of Texas and had taught at the Business Schools of the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now Louisiana-Lafayette) and Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant.
“He knew how to run an organization at a very, very high level. He was guiding us with what he was teaching,” said Richard Barker, a fellow Board member.
Barker, prior to appointment to the Board six months ago, had spent his career at the hospital, including 30 years as CEO and Administrator until retiring in 2021.
“Dr. Testerman knew marketing and management and was a whiz in mathematics,” Barker said. “He would run the numbers and we would look at things together. Many times I felt like he knew the answer- he was just letting me find out.”
“Jack taught me how to ask the important questions, and how to think globally about how a hospital...
Medicare Capping Drug Costs in 2025
Posted on Tuesday, October 8th, 2024
Starting in 2025, Medicare beneficiaries will see their out-of-pocket costs for outpatient prescription drugs capped at $2,000.
They also will be able to spread their out-of-pocket costs over a year if they opt into the new Medicare Prescription Payment Plan.
Now is the time to compare your current Medicare prescription drug plan against the plans that will be available in Oklahoma as of January 1, 2025. An open enrollment period begins October 15 and ends December 7.
Unbiased senior enrollment counselors (SHIPs) are an 800# away through the State Insurance Department, as described later.
Here’s what’s coming in 2025:
· New: The Inflation Reduction Act is rolling out a $2,000 out-of-pocket spending cap on all Medicare Part D plans and on Medicare Advantage plans that offer outpatient drug coverage. On average, beneficiaries with high-priced drugs will save $1,300 over last year.
· New: The deductible for most Part D plans will be $590 a year.
· New: In 2025, the “coverage gap” and “doughnut hole” are being eliminated. Now, with the new out-of-pocket max of $2,000, participants will need to pay their deductible (up to $590), then make copayments until they reach the new maximum, getting them to the next level of coverage faster than previous years.
· New: Installment payments, if you opt for this new payment option, all of your out-of-pocket costs, starting with the first covered prescription filled, will be spread out over the rest of...