The mission of Great Plains Regional Medical Center is to distinguish itself as the leader in western Oklahoma and the eastern Texas Panhandle for comprehensive, cost-effective, high-quality health care.
Believe it or not, the concept of managed health care has been around at least since the Great Depression. Dr. Michael Shadid of Elk City, Oklahoma, created one of the earliest managed care systems in this country in 1929. For years, the doctor had been haunted by the fact that hundreds of farm families scattered throughout the Great Plains country were not getting adequate medical attention. He saw firsthand the tragedies among medically forgotten rural Oklahoma and Texas – farmers dying of ruptured appendixes, their wives and children defenseless against the ravages of pneumonia, diabetes and tuberculosis.
Shadid knew that the only solution to this bitter problem was prepaid group medicine, offering hospital facilities and medical treatment at a price that these none-too-prosperous farmers could afford. In the truest sense, Shadid was a pioneer, for nowhere in America was there a model to guide him in his experiment.
Today, the board of directors, medical staff, administration and employees of Great Plains Regional Medical Center still believe it is imperative to the well-being of the families in western Oklahoma to carry on the mission started by Dr. Shadid. Great Plains Regional is positioned for a strong future as the comprehensive health care provider for those who live in the area. The medical center is committed to providing modern, state-of-the-art medical care while retaining the warmth and compassion of the community hospital that will forever be remembered as the first “cooperative” hospital in the nation.
No hospital can thrive and grow without the support of the medical staff. Great Plains Regional Medical Center is fortunate to have a large number of physicians, providing a level of care almost unheard of in a rural community and offering a variety of specialties. One of the many advantages of living in a smaller community is the fact that doctors become such an integral part of the community. The employees at Great Plains Regional Medical Center sees them at school functions, sit next to them at church, pass them in the aisles of the local stores and are privy to a level of familiarity with the doctors that is almost nonexistent in big cities. They are neighbors and friends.