Renovation work to Mercy’s emergency department waiting area will begin Monday, Oct. 23.
During renovation, the existing emergency department patient drop-off entrance will be closed and the waiting area space will be reduced. Patients and family members are encouraged to use the co-worker entrance just a few feet east of the existing emergency department entrance.
Mercy will provide complimentary valet parking for emergency department patients in front of the existing co-worker entrance and additional directional signage will be installed to assist with wayfinding. Emergency department staff as well as security will help patients and families locate entrances and registration.
“Patients who come to our emergency department often have a heightened sense of anxiety and fear,” said John Lampert, Mercy vice president of operations. “In order to help create a sense of comfort, we are installing new flooring, paint and furniture, plus elements of nature and expressions of Mercy’s faith throughout the space.”
Renovations are expected to be complete in early December.
Mercy, named one of the top five large U.S. health systems in 2017 by Truven, an IBM Watson Health company, serves millions annually. Mercy includes 44 acute care and specialty (heart, children’s, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, more than 700 physician practices and outpatient facilities, 40,000 co-workers and more than 2,000 Mercy Clinic physicians in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

By Darlene Franklin

How do I rest in God in a situation where drama occurs daily?
Five minutes at a time, that’s how
I lived for many years with a daughter who suffered from borderline personality disorder (BPD). BPD is characterized by pervasive instability-moods, relationships, self-image. As her mother, I felt like she was a black hole that sucked me dry and spit my bones back out.
I struggled for twenty-four hour periods I could call good. Hours were easier to come by. Some days I settled for minutes. If I waited for a perfect day, I was doomed to disappointment. So I relished whatever time God’s love broke through the clouds.
That experience came to mind when I asked a cousin how she had survived the death of her mother and the breakup of her marriage, a month apart.
Her answer was profound “I.dont.know!” She begged God to bring her husband back, but she knew God never deserted her. “It wasa time of waiting and toughing it out, sometimes five minutes at a time.”
Each of her answers rang a bell deep in my heart
Resting in God didn’t mean the absence of difficulties. Both Jan and I tried to tell God how to fix the problem. Perhaps you do the same.
What changed was we knew where to take our problems. Only God knew every detail of every day. We talked to Him about we wanted, because only He could bring about that miracle.
In the process, we learned something else: we trusted God because He never deserted us.
Intellectually, few of us have a problem with that statement, but experience gives the knowledge weight. I sat in the balcony of my church, mouthing the words of praise songs, unable to sing because I was crying. Before and since, I tune to Christian music when in need of a praise fix.
In that holy, wordless place, God held when I fell apart. His constant, loving presence carried me through the years following my divorce, my son’s teenage troubles, my daughter’s lifelong troubles, the double whammy of my mother and daughter’s deaths, and more recently, my failing health.
My cousin learned a similar lesson when her teenage son nearly died in a traffic accident. After three days of the continuous bad reports, she told the Lord that He could have Macon. She not only thanked God, she also “drew a ‘line in the sand.’ Did I truly trust God?” Giving her child to Jesus was the hardest thing she had ever done.
She returned to the ICU late that same night, expecting nothing. A nurse looked at me and tilted her head as if she was puzzled. “He seems to be turning a corner.” Macon clung to life. Later she learned at that very hour a circle of nurses was holding hands and praying for him.
Friends and family continued to visit, all bringing a message of hope. Macon lived.
Powerful. Impossible. I can’t do that, we might say. That will never happen for me. I could never pray like that. A lot of her peace grew because during her divorce, she had already learned that resting in God sometimes meant toughing it out, sometimes five minutes at a time.
Life in a nursing home involves a lot of waiting, and I hate it. Lately God’s given me tons to write. I have plenty of time … if I felt better. If I didn’t need an aide to move my meal tray so I can set up me computer.
Of course, help comes eventually, but I still have to wait. Perhaps it’s time to make use of my old kitchen timer.
When I’m counting the grains of sand in the hour glass, it runs in a continuous supply in heaven.
Early in the morning, I pull the call light. “Just five minutes.” Half an hour later, no one has responded. I remind myself that God’s measuring cup is as full as ever. As the clock winds down to noon, I think, “Still five more minutes?” In the mid-afternoon lull, I tell myself, “it’s only five minutes.” By the time I’m ready to head to sleep, I pray, “You’ll keep me for five minutes.”
God gets me through the day, five minutes at a time.

Mercy continues to fulfill the promise of expanding health care services in south Oklahoma City with the opening of a new family medicine and pediatric care clinic at 1060 SW Fourth St. An official blessing with ribbon cutting is scheduled at 4 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 4.
“We’re always looking for ways to better care for and cater to our patients,” said Di Smalley, Mercy regional president in Oklahoma. “Mercy already has a strong presence in north Oklahoma City and Edmond. We’re ready to provide that same level of patient care to those in south Oklahoma City and the surrounding communities.” The clinic includes family medicine physicians Sarah Cox, DO; and Misty Hsieh, MD; pediatrician Cerissa Key, MD; and Lara Rodkey, APRN-CNP. Imaging and lab work are also offered at the clinic. The newly constructed 11,800-square-foot clinic includes 24 exam rooms with space to accommodate an additional four providers as health care needs in the community grow.
Clinic hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
All providers are accepting new patients. For an appointment, call 405-378-5491.

By John D. Doak, Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner
Currently, more than 678,000 Oklahomans are enrolled in Medicare. Are all of those beneficiaries getting the proper coverage at the most affordable price based on their respective budgets? Unfortunately, the answer is likely no but there is a solution available during the Medicare Open Enrollment period.
The Medicare Open Enrollment period runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7. During this time, beneficiaries can review their current medical and prescription drug coverage, as well as explore new options available to them that could provide better coverage at a reduced cost.
Did you know that last year there were 20 different prescription drug plans available to Medicare beneficiaries ranging in price from $17 to $166 a month? Most people would likely pick the cheaper option to save money. However, sometimes the cheaper option isn’t always the best option. For example, what if a beneficiary were to enroll in the cheaper plan option only to find out that a particular medication he or she was prescribed isn’t covered under the cheaper plan? In that scenario, it would mean that the cheaper plan wouldn’t cover any of the costs for that drug, which would result in the beneficiary having to pay the full price for that medication. Ultimately, the beneficiary in that situation could actually wind up spending twice as much or more for his or her drug costs that year.
Here are some other considerations for Medicare beneficiaries to think about each year:
* Did your physician prescribe a new medication for you in the last year?
* If so, will your current prescription drug plan cover that new medication or is there another drug plan available that will cover it and could help save you money?
* Have you noticed that the monthly premium or co-pay amount for your current drug plan, which does cover all of your prescribed medications, has increased significantly?
With so many different Medicare plans available, each with different monthly costs, co-pays and drug lists, how do you make the best decision for yourself?
That’s where the Medicare Assistance Program (MAP) at the Oklahoma Insurance Department comes in. MAP is a grant-funded program that offers free, unbiased counseling to Medicare beneficiaries concerning their different options for Medicare coverage. MAP counselors are available to meet with seniors in-person or on the phone to answer questions about original Medicare, Medicare supplement insurance, Medicare Advantage plans and Medicare prescription drug plans. Within that, MAP counselors can help Oklahoma seniors evaluate their current coverage and explore the options available to them for the coming year.
Last year, MAP counselors helped Oklahoma seniors save, on average, an estimated $2,100 per person. In addition, MAP can help Oklahoma seniors living on fixed incomes in applying for financial assistance to cover their medical and/or prescription drug costs.
There are trained counselors across Oklahoma available to assist and provide a more personal approach to Medicare coverage counseling. Please call 800-763-2828 to find a counselor near you.

Dear Savvy Senior,
What are the eligibility requirements to get Medicaid coverage for nursing home care?
Caregiving Daughter

Dear Caregiving,
The rules and requirements for Medicaid eligibility for nursing home care are complicated and will vary according to the state where your parent lives. With that said, here’s a general, simplified rundown of what it takes to qualify.
Medicaid Eligibility
Medicaid, the joint federal and state program that covers health care for the poor, is also the largest single payer of America’s nursing home bills for seniors who don’t have the resources to pay for their own care.
Most people who enter nursing homes don’t qualify for Medicaid at first, but pay for care either through long-term care insurance or out-of-pocket until they deplete their savings and become eligible for Medicaid.
To qualify for Medicaid, your parent’s income and assets will need to be under a certain level that’s determined by their state. Most states require that a person have no more than about $2,000 in countable assets that includes cash, savings, investments or other financial resources that can be turned into cash.
Assets that aren’t counted for eligibility include their home if it’s valued under $560,000 (this limit is higher – up to $840,000 – in some states), their personal possessions and household goods, one vehicle, prepaid funeral plans and a small amount of life insurance.
But be aware that while your parent’s home is not considered a countable asset to determine their eligibility, if he or she can’t return home, Medicaid can go after the proceeds of their house to help reimburse their nursing home costs, unless a spouse or other dependent relative lives there. (There are some other exceptions to this rule.)
After qualifying, all sources of your parent’s income such as Social Security and pension checks must be turned over to Medicaid to pay for their care, except for a small personal needs allowance – usually between $30 and $90.
You also need to be aware that your parent can’t give away their assets to qualify for Medicaid faster. Medicaid officials will look at their financial records going back five years to root out suspicious asset transfers. If they find one, their Medicaid coverage will be delayed a certain length of time, according to a formula that divides the transfer amount by the average monthly cost of nursing home care in their state.
So if, for example, your parent lives in a state where the average monthly nursing home cost is $5,000 and they gave away cash or other assets worth $50,000, they would be ineligible for benefits for 10 months ($50,000 divided by $5,000 = 10).
Spousal Protection
Medicaid also has special rules for married couples when one spouse enters a nursing home and the other spouse remains at home. In these cases, the healthy spouse can keep one half of the couple’s assets up to $120,900 (this amount varies by state), the family home, all the furniture and household goods and one automobile. The healthy spouse is also entitled to keep a portion of the couple’s monthly income – between $2,030 and $3,022. Any income above that goes toward the cost of the nursing home recipient’s care.
What about Medicare?
Medicare, the federal health insurance program for seniors 65 and older, and some younger people with disabilities, does not pay for long-term care. It only helps pay up to 100 days of rehabilitative nursing home care, which must occur after a hospital stay.
Find Help
For more detailed information, contact your state Medicaid office (see Medicaid.gov for contact information). You can also get help from your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (see ShiptaCenter.org), which provides free counseling on all Medicare and Medicaid issues.
Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

INTEGRIS broke ground on the health care system’s first micro-hospital. The ceremony was take November 1st at 10 a.m. at 3391 S. I-35 Service Road in Moore. While the event was held at one location, it signified and celebrated all four of the micro-hospitals INTEGRIS plans to build in Central Oklahoma.
Last October, INTEGRIS officials announced they would be working with Emerus to open small-scale, fully licensed inpatient hospital facilities in different quadrants of Oklahoma City, to bring high-quality care closer to home. “We want to provide local neighborhoods with more choice and convenience when it comes to health care,” said INTEGRIS President and Chief Executive Officer Bruce Lawrence. “Our micro-hospitals will offer 90 percent of the medical services many patients and families will ever need.”
Emerus is the nation’s first and largest operator of such hospitals and is a nationally recognized, innovative leader in the delivery of emergency, inpatient, and diagnostic health care. Each joint venture facility will be open 24-hours a day, seven days a week and will be equipped to respond to almost any medical issue a patient may present with; including those that may be life threatening or require complex, critical care.
“The benefit of these facilities is two-fold,” stated Emerus Chief Executive Officer Craig Goguen. “While they help relieve emergency rooms at large comprehensive hospitals by treating the non-emergent needs that can overcrowd such institutions; they are also quickly accessible to stabilize and in many cases even treat truly emergent patients in their own neighborhood when time is of the essence. We’ve seen it in every community we’re a part of, these hospitals make a huge difference in people’s lives.”
Emerus operates similar facilities across the country in places like Dallas, Denver and Houston. The INTEGRIS micro-hospital in Moore will total about 50,000 square feet and will include an emergency department, inpatient unit, laboratory, and imaging services as well as medical offices for physicians and other health care providers.
The new facility will offer expanded health care to the community with compassion, efficiency and excellence, while maintaining the highest standards for quality, safety and service.
All four INTEGRIS micro-hospitals will house between eight and 10 inpatient beds for observation and short-stay use, and include a similar number of emergency treatment and triage rooms, along with primary and specialty care physicians, diagnostic and other outpatient clinic services.
The three other planned locations are in Northwest Oklahoma City, Far West Oklahoma City and Del City. The Moore facility is scheduled to open in early 2019 and the remaining locations should be up and running by the end of that year. Additional INTEGRIS micro-hospitals could be on the horizon in the future.

Most of us have heard the phrase, “Don’t count your chickens until they hatch” or “Don’t put the cart before the horse.”
In Louise Bryant’s world, the saying goes, “Don’t count pecans until you have them in the sack.”
The Bryants’ existing family tree is loaded with pecans.
Louise, 76, husband Carrel, 79, son Randy, 56, and daughter Lisa, 45, make up Bryant Pecan Company of Ada.
“Mother Nature dictates much of whether the pecan crop is good or not,” Louise said. “Rain at the right time is critical. For instance, when nuts are filling out, they need water, but when they are pollinating, they need dry weather. An early freeze in the winter or a late freeze in the spring can also destroy the crop. A few years back we had a freeze on Halloween. It got the crop for that year and also the buds for the next year. Even when the tree is filled with nuts, rain can keep you out of the field from harvest or wildlife can destroy a crop.”
Thus comes the saying, “Don’t count pecans until you have them in the sack.”
Family business
Louise was raised on a Jersey dairy about four miles south of Ada. She witnessed, from early on in life, a family operation.
Their dairy delivered door to door, and occasionally, in the case of her brother Albert, beyond.
“Sometimes, Albert would go into houses and put the milk into the refrigerator for them,” she said.
Louise met Carrel through 4-H Club, but they didn’t start dating until her first year at East Central University in Ada.
In college, they came across each other one night while dragging Main Street. They had a lot in common and shared many of the same values. Carrel and Louise married in 1960 on his parent’s wedding anniversary, April 13.
Carrel grew up northeast of Ada in the Francis and Cedar Grove area, and the family has passed down the story that his father, A.A. Bryant, cut down many of the native pecan trees, “but he kept enough to pay his taxes from pecans each year.”
When they married, Louise and her husband moved to Carrel’s dad’s place and that’s where they continue to live. He and his dad farmed together as long as his dad was able to farm.
“After we got married, my dad gave us a Jersey heifer which we kept until she got sick,” she said.
The Bryants now own about 690 acres with almost 2 miles of river bottom on the South Canadian River. In the early years of their marriage, cattle and hay were their primary products but they still picked up native pecans.
Today, son Randy oversees much of the daily operation, which focuses on pecans and a herd of purebred Horned Hereford and primarily Angus commercial cattle from which they raise black baldies. Daughter Lisa handles the marketing and promotional products of the family business.
“We have always had some pecans,” Louise said. “We started focusing more into the pecan industry in about 1981. A big crop that year changed our focus. We got mechanical harvesters and it looked like a way to increase our farm income.”
Louise said they probably have upwards of 4,000 trees now. In addition to the native pecans, the majority of their trees are improved varieties.
The more you shake this family’s tree, the more you learn just how much each member is involved, such as Louise.
Through the years on the farm, Louise has raked hay, brush hogged, fed and worked cattle and grafted, harvested and cleaned pecans.
“We also have a retail store where we market many of our pecans as well as candy, pecan oil, Amish products and gift items,” she said.
These days, that retail store occupies most of her time. She manages the daily operations of doing the paperwork, ordering supplies, shipping orders and running the retail space.
There have never been lulls in Louise Bryant’s life.
Besides helping on the farm, she taught at Byng Schools for 21 years.
“When I taught, I brought farming to the classroom through Ag in the Classroom,” she said. “For example, I hatched chickens in an incubator for the children to watch.”
She has also taught a Sunday school class, been a 4-H leader and was president of Pontotoc County Home Demonstration Council. Bryant was secretary/treasurer of the Pontotoc County Fair Board for 11 years.
She served nine years on the Farm Service Agency board.
“I followed Carrel on the board, and Randy replaced me,” she said.
Bryant also has served on the Pontotoc County Farm Bureau women’s committee and as a director for the Oklahoma Hereford Women.
From tree to pie pan
“Take 1 1/2 cups of pecans, 1 unbaked pie shell, a 1/2 cup of butter…”
That’s the way Bryant’s recipe for “Mama’s Best Pecan Pie” – the 2014 Oklahoma Pecan Food Show Grand Champion Pie – starts off.
Bryant is not only a pecan producer. She’s a fan from tree to pie pan.
“I find it interesting that pecan trees rarely die of old age. They either die from disease or damage such as lightning, wind, drought or ice,” she said. “I also find it amazing that something as good as pecans can also be so good for you.”
That comment led to the question of, “What makes for a good pecan pie?”
“I’ve never seen very many bad pecan pies,” she said. “A good pecan pie starts with quality pecans. I like for my pecan pies to be firm with lots of pecans.”
October sunshine
Recently while out among the pecan trees, Bryant looked up at some of the weighted branches, bowing with pecans that will soon be harvested. As she did, the October sunshine in Pontotoc County seemed to just reflect off her face, highlighting her smile.
During their 57 years of marriage, Carrel and Louise have both survived cancer and other illnesses, “and feel extremely blessed to still be able to function and help keep the farm operating.”
In addition to the phrase about waiting to count your “pecans until you have them in the sack,” Louise, when facing the challenges of daily life, often reflects on what her grandmother Canzada Newton, often repeated.
“When things get hectic, I think of her saying, ‘a hundred years from now it won’t make any difference anyway,’” Louise said, “and it helps put things in perspective.”

Growing up in the Holland province Fryslan, Anita Van der Laan never imagined she would one day have an 8,000 head dairy in Oklahoma.
Van der Laan’s love for dairy began at a very young age on her family’s 90-head Holstein dairy back in Holland. She is a 5th generation dairy farmer, with farmers on both sides of her family.
A defining moment in Van der Laan’s life occurred when she was graduating high school. Because she was a woman, the family dairy went to her brother, and her father told her it was time for her to find somewhere else to work.
“It really hurt,” Van der Laan recalled. “It still hurts 30 years later. But it made me want to encourage other women to go into the dairy industry.”
Van der Laan made the decision to move to the United States and start dairying here. Her life took another twist when she attended a Thanksgiving dinner in Texas with neighboring dairy farmers. A young man named Pieter Van der Laan had a birthday on Black Friday, so the friends decided to decorate his house for his birthday while he was out milking.
Little did Van der Laan know, Pieter grew up about 30 miles down the road from her in Holland, also on a dairy farm, though the two had never met before coming to Texas.
“I met him that day and the rest is history,” said Van der Laan. “We’ve been married 27 years, 7 months and 8 weeks. I’m still counting the days because we are still in love. Can’t help it.”
After the two were married on January 26, 1990, they combined their small herds, got a loan from the bank and started their dairy with 40 cows. Both kept their other jobs to pay off the loans so they could buy more cows. Their herd slowly and steadily began to grow. Today, they have grown to 8,000 head of dairy cattle.
“We never imagined in our wildest dreams we would milk this many cows,” laughs Van der Laan. “Our kids call us cow hoarders.”
They have two dairies in Frederick, Okla., Van der Laan Dairy, milking 2,900 cows and Sunshine Dairy LLC, milking 1,500 cows. Van der Laan is proud to say they are 100 percent owned by her and Pieter. Sunshine Dairy LLC sells their milk to Lonestar Milk Producers, and Van der Laan Dairy sells their milk to Select, which sells milk to Hiland Dairy, a popular brand seen in grocery stores across Oklahoma and surrounding states.
But no success story is without its trials. Sometimes many.
One morning when Van der Laan was out feeding calves, one particular Brown Swiss calf named Gemma butted during feeding, causing the bottle to painfully bump Van der Laan in the chest.
A very tender lump appeared within days, and after several weeks of no improvement, she finally went to see a doctor. Her fears were confirmed when the doctor diagnosed her with breast cancer.
Van der Laan says if it had not been for Gemma, the cancer would not have been found.
“I had never even held a bottle that way,” Van der Laan said, “It was just meant to be.
“I really believe that God doesn’t send angels in the way that we think of them,” Van der Laan said, “He sends them in the way we need them. I really believe she was my angel.”
Though Gemma sadly passed away during Van der Laan’s chemotherapy treatments, Gemma’s bloodline lives on at the dairy. She has three siblings on the farm—Gloria, which means glory to God, Gertrud, which means glory to God in Dutch, and Grietje, which means pearl of God in Dutch.
“Her mama is still around too,” Said Van der Laan. “Every time I talk to her I tell her she’s the mama of an angel.”
Van der Laan will forever hold a special place for Gemma in her heart.
“She saved my life,” Van der Laan said. “In all the dairy farming, you would never imagine God would send you an angel like that—but He did.” Difficult times did not stop with Van der Laan’s fight with Breast Cancer. 2011 proved to be a very challenging year, bringing severe weather such as extreme heat, drought, and tornadoes.
In June 2011, their dairy was hit by a small tornado. The contractor had just completed the remodeling and repair work in October when an EF-4 tornado devastated their dairy on November 7, 2011. They lost over half of their baby calves, 450, and many more cattle were injured.
“People we didn’t even know came to help,” Van der Laan recalled. “They took our injured calves that I couldn’t care for and took care of them, we got them all back in December.”
A farm they frequently did business with came with a large trailer and took the remaining healthy cattle back to their farm to allow the Van der Laans to rebuild and recover.
“We still to this day have cows that limp or have scars,” Van der Laan said. “They are our tornado victims, but they are still here.”
Van der Laan says despite the hard times, Oklahoma has been good to them, and she can’t imagine dairying anywhere else, especially because of the way their neighbors came to their aide in the time of need.
“Oklahoma is home to us now,” Van der Laan said.
Today dairies across the country are selling out and going out of business, so one can’t help but wonder what makes the Van der Laans continue to dairy. It is certainly not an easy life. Dairying is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year— it never stops. But Van der Laan simply laughs and says she understands it is not for everyone.
“I love the industry, I love the people, I love promoting our wonderful product,” she said. “That’s just what I love to do. It doesn’t matter where you are—in the grocery store, talking to a stranger, we have to promote our product. When someone finds out I’m a dairy farmer and they tell me they drink the other types of milk, I love to tell them why they have to drink the real McCoy.”
The Van der Laans have three children, Eric, Wilma and Liza, who have all come back to work and help with the family dairy.
Most recently, Wilma and her new husband have joined the family’s operation. Wilma’s husband is an engineer and now heavily involved in their 6,000 acre crop farming, and Wilma continues to help out with the dairy.
“I wanted to raise my daughters to know there is no difference between them and brother—they can dairy too,” Van der Laan said, “Especially because of what happened to me. I’m so proud of her [Wilma] for saying she wanted to go back to the family farm and dairy.”
Van der Laan says working with their three children is very special, and describes it as a beautiful life.
“I don’t know what I would do without it,” she said. “I have 25 heifers in the back yard right now, just because I can. I have plenty on the dairy, but I love to bring some home. These are my pets.”