Take a deep breath and relax because Muskogee residents have plenty of health care options.

Muskogee Regional Medical Center and Muskogee Community Hospital give local residents two fine choices for receiving quality health care, while the city is also home to the Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center. The city has also established a Health and Wellness Grants Committee to provide funding for health-wellness initiatives.

Muskogee Regional Medical Center

The Joint Commission-accredited hospital has 329 beds, a trauma center and a staff that can treat almost any medical condition. MRMC recently embarked upon a $1 million renovation of its medical floor, plus has acquired state-of-the-art radiotheraphy technology for its cancer center. The medical center also trumpets the fact that patients can be treated for almost any ailment right here in Muskogee, eliminating the need to travel to hospitals in larger cities.

One such example of convenience is MRMC's recent introduction of an interventional cardiology program, which allows angioplasty patients to have a wire mesh stent (either bare metal or drug-coated) inserted to relieve a blocked vessel.

Muskogee Community Hospital

Although still relatively new, Muskogee Community Hospital already has 20 doctors, 60 nurses and a staff of 150 that equates to an annual payroll of approximately $5 million, plus contributes $500,000 in taxes for the community. MCH, with 45 beds, is owned by local physicians and a small group of business individuals, and physicians were involved from the very beginning in the design of the facility.

Diagnostic services at MRH include MRI, CT, ultrasound, mammography and radiology, and surgical services.

Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center

This hospital provides health-care services to more than 44,000 armed services veterans in eastern Oklahoma. It offers a variety of primary and secondary levels of inpatient medical and surgical care, along with outpatient primary and consultative care in medicine, surgery and psychiatry.

Specialty care services at Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center include audiology, inpatient behavioral health, cardiology, dental, endocrinology, hospice, oncology, optometry, orthopedics, pulmonary, prosthetics, spinal care and urology. In addition, the hospital's women veterans' health program includes a number of clinical services available to women, including gynecology, mammography, reproductive care and menopause treatment.

Health and Wellness Grants Committee

Muskogee has a City of Muskogee Foundation in place to provide grants earmarked for several community projects, including improved health and wellness. As a result, a Health and Wellness Grants Committee oversees funds that go to programs specifically affiliated with the Oklahoma Health Improvement Plan, which advocates efforts such as eliminating generational poverty along with teen pregnancy prevention.

Other Health and Wellness Grants Committee initiatives include tobacco prevention, obesity reduction through increased physical activity and better nutrition, and children’s health.