RSVP of Central Oklahoma is proud to partner with Eunice Khoury, Well Preserved Advisory, and Crossings Community Church to host Senior Day on Friday, May 10, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Crossings Community Church, 14600 Portland Avenue, Oklahoma City.
“For a number of years, I have been looking to have a senior-focused educational event that brings together the seniors in our community with trusted professionals who provide services and have the resources our seniors need,” said Senior Day founder Eunice Khoury.
Senior Day is for people 55+ and is a day-long event that will include approximately 20 classes on such topics as Caregiving, Carla Scull, Oklahoma Alzheimer’s Association; Medicare, Ray Walker, Director of Medicare Assistance Program, Elder Fraud, Elaine Dodd, Oklahoma Banking Association, and the Care Trak Bracelet for Alzheimer Families, Patrick O’Kane, Sunbeam Family Services.
Berry Tramel, sports editor for The Oklahoman will be the keynote speaker. A lifelong Oklahoman, sports fan and newspaper reader, Tramel joined The Oklahoman in 1991 and has served as beat writer, assistant sports editor, sports editor and columnist.
Registration for Senior Day at Crossings Community Church is $12 and includes lunch. You may register online at www.crossings.church/senior-day or call 405.848.5790.
Collective Arts Productions, a Norman-based performing arts group dedicated to the incubation of emerging Oklahoma theater artists, presents its fourth season of new plays. The season of five plays spans June through October. Tickets for each play are priced on a sliding scale, allowing theater lovers to pay at a level that makes sense for them.
To purchase tickets, visit coartsproductions.com/tickets
First up is Where the Rabbits Roam No More by playwright Olivia Akers and directed by S M Boyer. “When Vel is knocked out by an unknown disaster, he awakes to find himself trapped underground and surrounded by four strangers. Facing the constant threat of starvation, Vel must soon decide who he is, who he loves, and, most importantly, who will help him escape.“ June 7-9 at The University of Oklahoma’s Old Science Hall.
Then, Co.Arts presents staged readings of two cutting-edge plays-in-development. First, The Fading People by playwright Lilia Ruiz Cruz and directed by Elise Bear explores a dystopic reality where loss of language separates us from our ancestors. Then, Influenced by playwright Anna Sofia McGuire, directed by Jenna Rowell, questions fame and consent in a coming-of-age story about an elite boarding school for creating online starlets. June 28-29 at The University of Oklahoma’s Old Science Hall.
Next is playwright Avery Ann Wolfe’s new play Lascaux, a historical fiction directed by Co.Arts Artistic Manager Morgan Simon. “In September of 1940 in Nazi-occupied France, just outside a rural village, two teenage boys discover a cave filled with the mark of early humanity; wall to wall, it brims with paleolithic art. Moved by what they find inside, two of these boys decide to return to guard the cave’s entrance. Lascaux imagines what those nights in the December cold might have looked like, at the confluence of pre-history and history.“ August 23-25 at Resonator Institute in Norman.
Finally, Co.Arts presents its sophomore creation from The Co.Hort, a form and genre-bending new play collaboratively written and performed by OKC’s most innovative emerging performance artists. Following last year’s inaugural Co.Hort creation, The Co.llective Arts Puppet Circus for Oklahoma, the 2024 Co.Hort promises to deliver an exciting, experimental creation. Stay tuned for more details!
To learn more about Co.llective Arts Productions, visit
https://coartsproductions.com/, follow on social media @coartspro, or email co.artsproductions@gmail.com
There are a lot of people in the 50+ demographic.
According to the 2020 U.S. Census there are more than 370,000 from Guthrie to Norman and Choctaw to El Reno. By 2030, that number will exceed 400,000. That’s a lot of people who have this season of life in common. We are living longer.
The face of aging is changing, for good. Due to great medicine, people are living longer – some well past a century. Estimates are on any given day 400 Oklahomans are over 100 years old. Many are cognitively sharp. VillagesOKC has members in that esteemed category. We need to know whom to trust.
Oklahoma City has experienced hundreds of new companies in home health, hospice, healthy living, and specialty services to “help” with all the decisions. Every company’s brochure says “really care.” Which one to choose? VillagesOKC is here to connect seniors and families with trusted healthcare professionals and businesses whom we know personally. Families want resources too.
Many seniors have loving families with willing support but are not close by -– available within 20 minutes. VillagesOKC is available to fill the gaps.
Retirement Centers, Independent and Assisted Living are an option.
There is a wide variety of senior living options in Oklahoma City. Seeing communities personally and the benefits, considering the benefits and costs is the only way to determine the best choice. VillagesOKC can suggest professionals who help with where to start and what to ask. Many people want to age in their own homes.
Having trusted connections for home maintenance, insurance, roof repair, the yard, changes in Medicare insurance is helpful. VillagesOKC is also the connection for new friends and positive education. Why Villages? Why now?
Isolation is deadly. VillagesOKC is the one connection for people across Oklahoma City.
Wherever we reside, getting up each day with a purpose and having daily social connections are as essential as food.
(Note: For a free copy of the US Surgeon General’s recent report on Loneliness and Isolation, call (405)990-6637 or email info@VillagesOKC.org)
Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in adults in the U.S., affecting more than 54 million people with more than 100 distinct types of the disease.
To make matters worse, there are no approved treatments for the most common form of arthritis—osteoarthritis. It stems from the loss of cartilage between bones and joints and will affect more than half of all Americans over the age of 65.
Understandably, this has led to much concern about the future of arthritis treatment.
“We all want to live long enough that we eventually have some wear-and-tear form of arthritis,” said Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation Vice President of Clinical Affairs Judith James, M.D., Ph.D. “But we don’t want any disability or limitations from it that tend to occur as we age. What we need is a disease-modifying drug.”
James, a rheumatologist and internationally recognized expert on arthritis, said that advancements in treating other forms of arthritis offer hope for similar developments in osteoarthritis.
“In the past decade, we have seen big changes in treatment for several types of arthritis, including the introduction of drugs and interventions for less-common forms like rheumatoid arthritis,” said James.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic illness mainly characterized by inflammation in the lining of the joints, and it affects more than 1.3 million adults in the U.S. James currently serves as principal investigator on a clinical trial called StopRA, a prevention study for the disease.
“We are testing people who are at high risk of developing RA. Our goal is to get them on treatments that may help prevent the disease from ever occurring,” she said. If you are interested in participating or finding out more about the study, please call 405-271-7745 or email jackie-keyser@omrf.org.
The National Institutes of Health invests more than $500 million annually toward understanding and treating various forms of arthritis. Some of that work is happening at OMRF, including research by scientist Tim Griffin, Ph.D., who studies the effects of obesity on the development of osteoarthritis.
“Much of what we initially learned about osteoarthritis came from studying end-stage diseased tissues when people had their joints replaced,” said Griffin.
However, technological advances in imaging and biomarkers have allowed scientists to study earlier stages of disease. Griffin says that this has given new hope for a cure.
“We now think of early-stage OA as resulting from a family of different conditions, such as obesity, trauma, or aging,” he said. “Treatments that target the specific cause of osteoarthritis at the early stages may delay or even prevent disease.”
Multiple studies have shown that a diet avoiding inflammatory foods like saturated fats and refined carbohydrates can help protect you. Griffin’s lab recently found that diets high in saturated fats increased the risk of joint inflammation in mice—even before cartilage loss began.
“We are working on this disease in earnest and continue to understand more and more about it,” said James. “I am increasingly hopeful that we will see a treatment for osteoarthritis in our lifetime.”
But while we await the first osteoarthritis drug, what can we do in the meantime?
“‘Move as much as you can,” said James. “The more you sit, the stiffer and more painful your joints become. Other keys are to maintain a reasonable body weight and participate in joint-safe exercises like swimming or using an elliptical machine.”
Photography and Text by Terry “Travels with Terry” Zinn t4z@aol.com
Travel is a gift. Under current Health conditions, Travel is sadly not advisable.
Perhaps come Summer 2021 world health will be safe or safer than present.
But this delay in physical travel should not negate planning a future travel adventure.
It might also be wise to plan a car trip relatively close to home. There are many enjoyable and interesting destinations in our own back yard. One such is Dodge City, Kansas.
Dodge City has developed its own PR catch phrase: “Get Into Dodge.”
Of course that is a ironic take on the wild west phrase of a lawman to an outlaw of, “Get Out Of Dodge.” I say, referring to one of the City’s hero’s, “Wyatt Earp Never Had It So Good.” This popped into my brain during my trips final dining experience at Prime on the Nine restaurant, while reflecting on the good experiences in Dodge. (story continues below)
Overlooking a golf course, the Prime on the Nine restaurant, offers the highest of service and food to informed tourists and locals. http://primeonthenine.com
If you have followed my articles for some time, you know I like the traditional dining experience of Martini, and perfectly cooked tender local steak to medium plus. This elegant venue filled these requirements to perfection and the perfect closing meal to my three day visit to Dodge City. Truly Wyatt Earp in his short stay in Dodge, “Never Had It So Good.”
Another outstanding dining experience is the Central Station Bar & Grill, https://centralstationdc.net/ where you have the option of dining in an authentic 1950 railway car. With a salute to the rails that opened up Dodge City to the cattle markets, it’s only proper to order a steak as well. I devoured a rib eye steak, side salad, sweet potato fries with onion rings. With four kinds of steaks to be mesquite grilled or with other choices including chicken varieties there is something to satisfy your western appetite. Despite being there on a very popular night, the service and quality of my meal did not suffer. To top of the entree the apple cobbler delight dripping with caramel and ice cream was an exquisite and unexpected finale. This venue also offers a dance floor and sports bar amenities as well as guest entertainers.
For a quick casual fix, the homemade pizza while you wait is offered at Dodge City Brewing, www.dodgecitybrewing.com, but closed on Monday and Tuesdays. To hear how vodka and gin is distilled, visit the Boot Hill Distillery, www.boothilldistillery.com with tours and tastings available. More interesting than the process is the building’s history and location on top of Boot Hill cemetery. The Vodka is mild and mixes well while the Gin is heavy on botanicals and sold at a premium price.
You must save time to tour the Boot Hill Museum, www.boothill.org, where a large new museum building is near completion. www.boothill.org/construction-update The Museum hosts an extensive gift shop with artifacts and memorabilia. The best part of admission is being able to walk into a replicate of the Old Dodge City wooden store fronts, including the Long Branch Saloon, complete with bar and piano. Other stores offer remembrance of shops that might have been in old Dodge City on front street. Walking back and forth on the wooden board walk you might feel a moment in old west time.
A walking tour of the town takes you by many of the bronze statues remembering many celebrities made famous by the Myth of Dodge city. Of cores there is Wyatt Earp and even Matt Dillon.
I drove up from Oklahoma City on what is casually called the Northwest passage on state highway 270 and 183. While the online map suggested a drive time of 4 and 1/2 hours its more like about 6 hours,but worth it for the destination and a chance to see the unspoiled landscape of Oklahoma, accented by a few wind farms. A mirage when fist approaching Dodge City you see a large hill covered in black. At first you wonder what causes the blackness, and soon see it is a massive panorama of black cattle, the prime resource of Dodge. All of this can be explained if you take the trolley tour, which also goes through the remaining inhabited buildings of Fort Dodge.
I happily stayed at the conveniently located Best Western North Edge Inn, where my first story room had an exit just feet away from my automobile parking. Of course they offer all the amenities you expect from a Best Western including the free morning breakfast to start your sight seeing off right.
So much to see and do in Dodge City so please check out more at: www.visitdodgecity.org
From Left to Right: Jaime Persall, Oklahoma Hospice Care Community Relations Rep., Jennifer Forrester, Oklahoma Hospice Care Community Relations Director, Charlie Redding, Right at Home Director of Business Development, and Mary Shrum, Fountains at Canterbury Program Director.
by James Coburn, Staff Writer
Imagine your life being a puzzle tossed into the air, fragmented into pieces that cannot be joined together again. Every day brings a little death for someone living with Alzheimer’s disease. It can be treated, but for this terminal illness, there is no cure.
For the caregiver or anyone who shares experiences with a person living with dementia, there is a program offered called Alzheimer’s Experience which promotes empathy for the loved one by educating people about how Alzheimer’s changes the course of life.
Most recently the event was held at the Fountains at Canterbury in Oklahoma City and is offered at other locations, said Charlie Redding, director of business development for Right at Home which offers in home care and assistance, and Jennifer Forrester, community relations director of Oklahoma Hospice Care.
They have also partnered with Rivermont in Norman as well as Touchmark in Edmond. Redding has also partnered with fire departments to offer refresher course training.
Forrester said the Alzheimer’s Experience is also helpful for senior law attornies or anyone with a vested interest. She is there to score the events, observe the participants in the room and take notes, Forrester said. She watches to see if tasks are being performed in order and sees how they react to noises in their ears.
“If you’d like to take a walk in the shoes of someone living with memory loss or Alzheimer’s disease, this is your chance,” Redding said.
Right at Home is hosting a dementia tour in partnership with Oklahoma Hospice Care, Redding said.
“This experience lasts about 20 minutes and we’ll provide delicious snacks for you after the tour,” he added.
The participants will take a pre-test and a post-test after the simulation, Redding said. “We’re targeting health care professionals, but it’s open to anyone, family members, caregivers, employees of the community and different vendors that we all deal with.”
The Virtual Dementia Tour consists of putting on goggles, gloves, inserts into their shoes and a headphone with a recording. The recording lasts 11 minutes during which time the participant is given five minutes to complete a task.
“They have to go into the apartment,” Redding said. “We want this to be a home-like environment as possible so that people can be more empathetic to what someone with Alzheimer’s or dementia truly is going through in their living dwellings.”
There may be things a person living with dementia may not be able to vocalize such as lower extremity nerve damage or arthritis. Maybe they cannot buckle their belts or see to turn the pages of a book to a certain page.
“A lot of times people living with dementia cannot verbalize other symptoms,” Redding said. “Things that are going on, because their brain doesn’t process it that way.”
A person with Alzheimer’s could be given a task to put their sweater on. However, they might return with a blanket wrapped around them or remain in the closet or doorstep.
“What they heard was ‘Go get that blanket and put it on.’ Or they can’t see a sweater,” he said. There is a debriefing with each participant after the event, Redding said.
“We do not want them interacting with the people who have not gone through it because we don’t want them to know what to expect,” he said.
Additionally, the debriefings might be done collectively or individually. When he brings the program to Norman Specialty Hospital at 1:30 p.m. on February 4th the direct-care employees will benefit by the impact.
“For me, I’m a part of this just to raise awareness for the devasting disease for not just the person, but the people around them,” Forrester said. “It’s scary. And I think this provides everybody an insight to what it might be like.”
Each year, across the country, thousands of educators, caregivers, health and aging professionals, and older adults focus their efforts on one goal: preventing falls. That’s why the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) is partnering with the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and the Falls Free® Coalition to celebrate Falls Prevention Awareness Day, Sept. 23. This year’s activities will focus on the teamwork needed to prevent falls effectively.
Every second of every day in the United States an older adult falls, making falls the number one cause of fatal and nonfatal injury among older Americans. Every week in Oklahoma, approximately 124 adults age 65 and older are hospitalized and 11 die from a fall. Acute care hospital charges alone total more than $250 million a year.
Falls are not a normal part of aging, and an individual has the power to prevent them. The OSDH offers the following tips on simple tips to prevent falls:
Exercise regularly. Exercises that improve strength, balance, and coordination are the most helpful in lowering the risk of fall-related injuries.
*Speak up. Talk to your doctor about fall risks and prevention. *Ask a doctor or pharmacist to review both prescription and over-the-counter medications for side effects and interactions. The way medications work in the body can change with age. Some medications or combinations of medications can contribute to drowsiness or dizziness, which increases the risk of falling. *Have vision screenings at least once a year. The wrong prescription eyeglasses or health conditions, such as glaucoma or cataracts, limit vision and may increase the risk of falling. *Reduce hazards in the home that may lead to fall-related injuries. *Keep floors clean and clear of clutter where people walk.
*Maintain adequate lighting throughout the home, especially near stairways. *Remove throw rugs or use non-skid throw rugs in the home, and use non-slip mats in the bathtub or shower. *Install handrails on stairways and grab bars in bathrooms. *Keep regularly needed items in easy-to-reach places that don’t require the use of a step stool.
The Tai Chi: Moving for Better Balance program has been proven to reduce the risk of falls. Throughout Oklahoma, many individuals have been trained as Tai Chi instructors and teach Tai Chi: Moving for Better Balance classes to older adults. This exercise program focuses on improving functional abilities, such as balance and physical function, to reduce fall-related risks and frequency of falls. Oklahoma seniors are invited to join one of the more than 90 open Tai Chi: Moving for Better Balance classes across the state.
To receive more information on classes and how to prevent falls, contact the OSDH Injury Prevention Service at (405) 271-3430 or visit http://falls.health.ok.gov.
The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation is home to more than 20,000 mice. Researchers rely heavily on lab mice, which share more than 95% of their genomes with humans. These mice help deepen scientists’ understanding of diseases ranging from cancer to Alzheimer’s to multiple sclerosis and often play a crucial role in developing new treatments.
Five grants totaling $1.5 million have provided new cage-cleaning and sterilization equipment for the more than 20,000 mice that call the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation home.
Offices in the animal facility, known as the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Genetic Research, also are being renovated, thanks to grants from the Hearst Foundation, J.A. Chapman and Leta M. Chapman Charitable Trust, National Institutes of Health, Presbyterian Health Foundation, and Robert Glenn Rapp Foundation.
Researchers rely heavily on lab mice, which share more than 95% of their genomes with humans. These mice help deepen scientists’ understanding of diseases ranging from cancer to Alzheimer’s to multiple sclerosis and often play a crucial role in developing new treatments.
Mice receive a new cage every one to two weeks. Research technicians wash, sterilize and provide new bedding for nearly 1,000 cages per day. After 20 years, the highly specialized equipment was breaking down regularly: In 2020, OMRF’s contracted technician made 38 visits for repairs.
“What kept us up at night was the prospect of our repair technician getting ill or that the equipment would have a catastrophic failure,” said Jennie Criley, D.V.M., OMRF’s director of Comparative Medicine.
A catastrophic failure, Criley said, could have meant a six-month wait for new, custom-made equipment. This would have caused sweeping delays in research operations, including experiments involving a select group of “germ-free” mice for OMRF researchers like Matlock Jeffries, M.D. These mice have no detectable microbes, and everything that enters their environment must be sterile.
“Our lab studies the relationship between osteoarthritis and microbiomes in the gut,” Jeffries said. “The germ-free facility allows us to give mice a precise microbiome and examine the effects on knee cartilage when we perturb the microbiome. It’s critical that their environment is kept reliably sterile. These grants provide that assurance.” The grants replaced seven pieces of equipment utilized by researchers at OMRF, the Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Oklahoma.
The new equipment provides not only reliability, but also energy savings, resulting in more efficient use of foundation funds.
“These facility updates will provide decades of support for OMRF researchers to garner new insights and treatment strategies for diseases that impact people everywhere,” said OMRF President Andrew S. Weyrich, Ph.D.
NIH funds for the renovation are from National Institute of General Medical Sciences Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence program grant No. P20GM139763-01.
Daily Living Centers Offer Veterans Opportunities For Social Engagement, Volunteer Events
Veterans Leon and Guy at the VA Living in Norman for their SHINE veteran service project, posing next to a bucket of bingo cards because they tag team bingo games at the Bethany center.DLC President and CEO, Amanda Dirmeyer, creating Veterans Day cards for veteran organizations in the community.
Story by Van Mitchel, Staff Writer
Daily Living Centers Inc, a nonprofit Adult Day Service Provider that serves adults with developmental disabilities, senior adults, and veterans, based in Oklahoma City, previously celebrated Veterans Day in a meaningful way- giving back to their community.
Each Daily Living Centers location completed a service project to serve local veterans. DLC is a proud member of SHINE, Start Helping Impacted Neighbors Everywhere, a volunteer program created by Oklahoma County Commissioner, Brian Maughan.
The Bethany Center created thank you cards to give to the VA Living Center in Norman. The Bethany participants and staff had a cookie and punch party with the veterans at the VA Home in Norman while dropping off the cards.
The South Oklahoma City Center visited the OKC VFW, located at 4605 South Pennsylvania, to decorate for Veteran’s Day.
“Citizens for SHINE (Start Helping Impacted Neighborhoods Everywhere) encourages non-profits and businesses to recognize their employees, participants, or residents volunteer efforts. It is great to see members of Daily Living Centers giving back through SHINE. Every bit of litter pick-up, every flower planted, and every hour invested in a better community pays dividends for us all, stated County Commissioner Brian Maughan.”
In 2021, Daily Living Centers joined the Citizens for SHINE Program. Since then, their participants have completed over 60,000 volunteer hours.
“We have a volunteer SHINE program, and a lot of our veterans are a part of that where they can give back to the center or the community,” said Amanda Dirmeyer, Daily Living Centers President & CEO. “They can volunteer here in the center where some of them just help with rolling out the silverware or preparing for activities, or we actually will go out and clean up a park or maybe stock shelves at a food pantry. We have a Navy veteran who even started a choir here.”
Dirmeyer said Daily Living Centers is grateful to serve participants from all walks of life and to be able to meet their individual needs.
Since 1974, Daily Living Centers (DLC) has provided rest and hope for caregivers. They are Oklahoma’s first and leading non-profit adult day provider for senior adults and adults with disabilities ages 18 and older. There are three locations that offer nonresidential affordable day services for over 200 participants 246 days a year in an environment that enhances mind, body, and spirit. While attending DLC, “participants” enjoy healthy meals, exercise programs, socialization, activities, and outings that meet their individual needs.
Dirmeyer said they have a fleet of vehicles including limos and wheelchair accessible vans that provide door-to-door transportation and medical rides.
She said many of the participants have physical and/or mental limitations or suffer from isolation and depression.
Common diagnoses found in those DLC serve include dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, stroke, traumatic brain injury, autism, Down Syndrome, and other developmental disabilities. Caregivers often say that DLC services are “lifesaving.”
“Our populations are adults with developmental disabilities as well as senior adults,” Dirmeyer said. “We feel it is important for caregivers to know that veterans can attend our centers through VA funding. They need to be established with the VA and have a VA physician who will provide a consult in order to start attending a DLC center.”
Dirmeyer said DLC offers meals, exercise and art therapy, as wells as help with personal care if anyone needs assistance in the restroom or bathing services.
“We have breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack every day. A variety of different types of exercise classes are offered including chair Zumba, yoga, cycle classes, and more,” she said. “We do a lot with music therapy and art therapy. Our participants, they’re very creative, and so we can do things with painting, crafts, and puzzles. Games and reminiscing activities are great to stimulate the mind. Weekly community outings are planned for each center which include libraries, parks, museums, and big events such as the circus.”
Dirmeyer said the VA will pay for veterans to attend DLC.
“A lot of people are not aware that the VA will pay for our services, and they’re able to come here,” she said. “They build friendships and meet with other veterans and swap stories. It’s beneficial for them because we recognize them for their service.”
Dirmeyer said she has a passion working to help seniors.
“My passion has always been to work with seniors, and I’ve been in the senior healthcare field for about 22 years now,” she said. “My biggest goal is to spread the word everywhere because this service is so vital, especially to caregivers.”
For more information regarding Daily Living Center’s services, contact Ragan Franklin at (405) 792-2401 or visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/dailylivingcenters
Ginny Curtis is one of the owners of MCM Insurance, focusing on Medicare and Retirement. Sessions, Navigating through Medicare are offered, intended to fully educate on Medicare and the options available.
by Vickie Jenkins, Staff Writer
Meet Ginny Curtis, Licensed Insurance Agent of MCM Insurance, Medicare and Retirement. The company is family owned and operated and they are proud of their combined team experience of 50 years. MCM Insurance is focused on those with Medicare and the options that they can offer. With comprehensive Medicare help, there are many carriers, not centering on one individual company, instead, offering a wide variety of products, setting their goal to help individuals get the coverage they need and deserve. The name of the company, MCM Insurance comes from the first initial of the 3 owner’s last names. Jennifer Melton, Ginny Curtis and Tonderai Bassoppo-Moyo.
As Ginny sits behind her desk, she explains the MCM Insurance with professionalism and ease, giving that comfortable, down-to-earth feeling. She speaks with confidence and pride, giving her words a bit of strength, dedication and answers. “I’ve been doing this for 32 years,” she says with a smile. It is obvious that she is very comfortable speaking about the advantages of MCM Insurance. “I enjoy my job and helping others. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here, “she adds.
“Not a lot of people realize they can come to us and we can help them get more coverage than what they are getting now. We can help the Veterans in a lot of ways. We just need to reach out to them. We are trying to get the word out as much as we can. We focus on offering information sessions called Navigating through Medicare. This session is intended to fully educate on Medicare and the options available. I’d say that about 98% of our clients are Medicare and that is why we try to help them any way that we can. It gives our clients a big advantage overall.”
MCM Insurance serves the whole state of Oklahoma. Appointments can be set up at their office, in the customer’s home or even a coffee shop if they prefer. They aim to please and want to do the very best for their clients.
The services that are offered by MCM Insurance are Medicare supplement, prescription drug plans, Medicare advantage plans, hospital indemnity, short term care, final expense, cancer, heart attack, stroke, dental, vision and hearing. Today, in this ever changing world, it is good to have one office and one team working for the clients.
“We love to participate in local community events.” Ginny says. We can schedule one of our presentation or they can contact MCM to have a table at their event.”
Some of the questions that seem to be asked when talking to a MCM agent are: Can you help me with insurance even if I am under 65? What if I have been diagnosed with cancer or have to spend time in a hospital or nursing home? Can you set up my family business with group insurance? Do you offer vision and dental plans? The answer to all of these questions is YES! They will be happy to help you in any way they can.
“We are a small office, yet we are very unique. I love the fact that we are family owned and operated. “We treat everyone with the highest of respect, focusing on what is right for that person. We take an unbiased approach and do our best,” Ginny comments.
On a personal note, Ginny is a pleasant individual who seems to have a positive attitude, taking on a positive attitude in everything she does. Born in Chicago, she moved to Oklahoma when she was a teenager.
Between Ginny and her husband, they have 6 children, 16 grandchildren, (another one on the way) ages 1 through 23, and 1 great grandchild. “That can be a hand full sometimes,” she said. When she is home, she enjoys spending time with her family. Her hobbies include sewing and cooking, which she loves doing both.
If you would like to schedule an appointment with an MCM agent to attend a session on Navigating through Medicare, or schedule a presentation, you can reach the office at 405-842-0494. If you would like more information, check out the website at www.mcmmedicare.com. The office is located at 2232 West Hefner Road, Suite A, Oklahoma City, OK 73120. Hours are Monday through Friday, 10:00-3:00, Saturday by appointment only and closed on Sundays.
Overall, MCM Insurance and their team will be happy to help you with any of your insurance needs. Give them a call; you will be glad you did.
