TALIHINA, Okla. (KFSM) - The Choctaw Nation Healthcare Center outpatient clinics in Talihina were closed Wednesday (May 20) following overnight flooding
Janet Sharp, the public information officer for the healthcare center, said the clinics were flooded by four inches of water.
"This was one of the doors where it was about two and a half feet on the outside of this door and it came in through here," Sharp said. "The floor was standing in two or three inches of water."
Sharp said the walls and floors in the hospital are damaged.
"All the outpatient areas are closed," Sharp said. "The only thing that remains open is the emergency room, but they are on divert which means we will take walk-ins, but if there's anything critical they will be shipped out."
She said they will also treat women who are going into labor, but others will have to go to healthcare clinics in Poteau, Fort Smith, Tulsa or McAlester. Sharp said the outpatient clinics in Talihina will be closed Thursday (May 21).
"There's damage everywhere," Sharp said.
Normally, the Choctaw Nation Healthcare Center has approximately 500 to 600 patients per day. Sharp said in this case, they've transferred less than 10 patients.