Expanding Health Clinics For The Uninsured

Tuesday, May 15th 2007, 6:44 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Officials hope to see an expansion of clinics that serve the poor, now that Governor Brad Henry has signed a bill extending state lawsuit immunity to doctors who provide free services.

Pam Cross, the project coordinator for the Health Alliance for the Uninsured, says the measure extends to health care providers the same type of immunity from lawsuits that state employees and such groups as volunteer firefighters now enjoy.

Governor Henry signed it into law late Monday night.

Cross says faith-based and community-based clinics that treat the medically indigent across Oklahoma will be the big beneficiaries of the legislation.

Jana Timberlake, the executive director of the Oklahoma County Medical Society, says she knows of 16 free clinics that operate in Oklahoma County alone.

Timberlake says some clinics need more doctors, including primary care physicians and specialists ranging from surgeons to dermatologists.