Health clinic opens in OKC to meet needs of the community

by Robin Dorner
Editor in Chief

AIM (Advanced Integrated Medical) is open to serve the community. Owners Jennifer Bates and Gina Love know about disparities in health care. They understand certain groups of people, such as the LGBTQ community, lack adequate resources to care when compared with the majority population.

AIM is half LGBTQ owned, and all the owners have a background in health care.

“My business partners and I handle the back-office functions of a medical office in our current business,” she said. “We’ve always talked about having a clinic that we could put our business expertise to work and have a provider that focused on the clinical care side to give the best possible care.”

They said they have always wanted to start a clinic to reach out to the community and provide services to underserved populations, be it low-income seniors, LGBTQ people and other racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and minority groups.

Further, they have owned a medical billing business for several years serving several doctors in the metro area around Oklahoma and surrounding states.

Before opening AIM, they did an extensive search for their ARNP (Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner).

“When I met Angela, I immediately knew she was the one!” Bates said. “She has a passion for serving patients and making sure everyone gets equitable healthcare with no judgment. We were fortunate to find a nurse practitioner that is so caring and has the experience that she does. She takes the care our patients will receive to the next level.”

Rucker said she has always been involved with the healthcare field because her mom is a nurse.

I knew all my life, I wanted to take care of people, and I have been a nurse for 20 years,” said Rucker. “AIM is a great opportunity for me.”

The ARNP, FNP (one who specializes as a Family Nurse Practitioner), has wanted to run a clinic since she became a nurse practitioner in 2016.

“I want to have a place where people of all genders, ethnic backgrounds, financial backgrounds, and social backgrounds can come in and feel completely comfortable and not judged,” she said. “I am very open-minded and think all people should not only feel they can be completely open with their provider but also be entirely comfortable and confident in doing so.

“I want every patient to leave happy and satisfied with their care and have no fear or remorse in their choices.” 

She said she feels everyone has the right to feel comfortable in their own skin and have a provider that assists with that to the best of their ability. 

Bates said the AIM clinic accepts all clients.

“We serve all clients equally and without judgment,” Bates said. “We are located right across from the strip. Our clinic focuses on older patients, but we also want to be a part of the community where our clinic is located.

“I think the OKC LGBTQ community has made a lot of strides in healthcare in the last years,” she said. “I hope that AIM can play an important role in expanding the landscape of providers that the LGBTQ community can comfortably choose from.”

Bates said they selected the location because they have a business relationship with a doctor that offices out of the same building. The building is named Investment Plaza.

“There was some space available that made sense for a family practice,” she said. “My partners and I wanted to start a clinic, and the doctor was interested in being a part of a new venture. It made sense for everyone and was the right fit at the right time.”

Currently, the location at 2301 W. I-44 Service Rd, Suite 310 in OKC, is their only location.   

“The plan is for AIM to have clinics citywide,” Bates said. “The long-term plan is to have in-house laboratories, x-rays, and other services with several locations our patients can access.”

“We have a partnership with another company, but right now, we all handle separate aspects of the business,” said Bates. “But I run the day to day right now. In the future, we will have an operations manager that oversees the clinics.”

Rucker handles the clinical side.

“I feel I can provide every patient the best care possible and make them feel completely at ease coming in and being seen and having their healthcare managed,” Rucker said. “The goal is to see each patient that calls within a week so we can get their primary care established as well as make goals to what each individual patient wishes to achieve with their health and lifestyle.”

Bates said she wants the community to know that they have a safe, comfortable place to access healthcare.

“I was just going over this with Angela, and she just said, ‘I want everyone to be comfortable in their own skin.’ That’s how she approaches healthcare.”

The clinic is located at 2301 W. I-44 Service Rd, Suite 310, in OKC. From the west end of the OKC strip, go under the underpass, proceed to the stop sign, and turn right. To make an appointment, call (405) 724-8383, or find them on Facebook.

Copyright The Gayly. 4/20/2020 @ 5:49 p.m. CST.