National Bank Is Member of the Month

First National Bank of Sallisaw was the Sallisaw Chamber Member of the Month and was awarded a plaque at the chamber’s October Member Luncheon on Wednesday. Jeff Mayo, incoming chamber president on the left, presented the plaque. Accepting are, from his left, bank officers Susan Chandler, Debbie Fleetwood, Glenda Callahan and Ryan Roth. Matt Caldwell, bank president, was unable to attend.

Brooke Lattimore of the Health and Wellness Centers was the guest speaker at the meeting and described how the centers operate. She said the Federal-qualified Health and Wellness Centers are located in seven eastern Oklahoma towns – Sallisaw, Checotah, Eufaula, Poteau, Warner, Stigler and Wilburton.

The centers offer quality health care to the underserved, she said, and those without insurance are charged on a sliding scale.

The Health and Wellness Centers have 150 employees and had over 24,000 patients encounters last year.

The Sallisaw center, she said, “is the most productive in the system.”

The Sallisaw center is also undergoing an expansion that will double space and offer Behavioral Health. However, although the center has federal funding, recent cutbacks in state funding may impact the center’s Behavioral Health plans. Federal health funding is also up in the air.

“We will just have to wait and see what happens,” Lattimore said.

The center offers basic primary and preventive care, pediatrics, pharmacy services, and pre-natal care in some clinics. Future plans include the Behavioral Health, substance abuse treatment, and a drive-through pharmacy. Several more professional positions will also be filled when the expansion is complete in late December or January, Lattimore said.

She encouraged, “Come get your flu shot!”

Upcoming Events:

-Oct. 31 Halloween on Elm Street in Sallisaw

-Nov. 4 Bassnanza at Kerr Lake

-Nov. 10 Veterans Day Ceremony, 11 a.m. until noon, at Stanley Tubbs Memorial Library in downtown Sallisaw

-Evivva from 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 18 at the Cherokee Casino in Roland.

The chamber’s Christmas events also begin in November. 

Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

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