Health centers provide care to all patients, regardless of their ability to pay. By expanding evening and weekend hours, more patients, especially those who lack sick leave or face transportation, childcare, or other challenges during typical business hours—will have access to the care they need.
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has announced support for the Family Health Center of Southern Oklahoma, Inc. (FHCSO), a HRSA-funded community health center that served 10,958 individuals last year. This support will enable FHCSO to expand its hours of operation and improve access to health care by adding evening and weekend hours.
Because FHCSO serves patients regardless of their ability to pay, expanding hours is especially important for individuals who are uninsured, underinsured, or covered by Medicaid—many of whom face barriers accessing care outside traditional business hours.
This funding will also help health center patients with common challenges in accessing health care – for example, taking a child to the doctor after work or getting a timely appointment when you are not feeling well on the weekend – and help to connect patients to preventative services and resources for health related social needs to improve health outcomes.
FHCSO’s Expanded Hours FHCSO will add 20 additional hours of operation at its clinic in Atoka and are actively working to add additional operation hours to the Tishomingo site at a later time. Currently, there are limited options for primary care services in these counties on Saturdays or Sundays outside of hospital emergency departments.
FHCSO’s expanded hours will become one of the only weekend and after-hours options in the community. The new schedule will include: Fridays: 11:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Saturdays: 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Sundays: 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
These expanded hours will include medical services only; dental and behavioral health services will not be available during these extended hours at this time.
“Having the option to get to the doctor before or after work or on the weekend not only helps families get the care they need, but it also helps relieve some of the some of the stress and burden on the families trying to arrange care. HRSA’s investment is expanding access to care in a way that recognizes the dayto- day realities of working families across the country.”
“No one should have to delay or skip a trip to the doctor because of work or school,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “The millions of Americans who can’t miss their daytime work shift, whose kids are in school, or who face transportation or childcare challenges deserve the same access to quality care. These efforts help extend clinic hours, especially in rural or underserved areas.”
HRSA-supported health centers provide access to primary care services — regardless of an individual’s ability to pay — for over 31 million patients at more than 15,000 services sites in highly needed communities.
