Jeff Hamblin has been helping people in Bryan County through his work in the urgent care business for more than 20 years. 
That’s the news. It’s not changing – he’s just moving several yards to the west.
Loyalty Health Urgent Care opened its doors for business in late September and a ribbon cutting with the Durant Area Chamber of Commerce signaled a fresh start for Hamblin and his work. This entails attending to anything that needs acute care.
We try to be the bridge between your family practice doctor and the emergency room,” Hamblin said. “So if you stub your toe or need an X-ray, we can do that. If you cut your finger, we can do that. If you wake up and you’re coughing or sick, we can take care of that. We have full X-ray.
“We have a procedure room where we can pretty much do anything we need to do as far as draining abscesses or sewing people up, setting bones or splinting them – all of that kind of stuff. “
Hamblin, aloing with his father and with Kent Rogers, opened Texoma Care Urgent Care in 2004. It soon grew to be a multi-location venture with an office in Pottsboro, Texas, as well.
“We were on both sides of the Red River. We grew it to where we were seeing 50-60 patients a day in Durant and 20-30 patients a day in Pottsboro. It got to be very valuable and it was during the time that Obamacare was kind of going through.”
They received offers on the business and ultimately sold it to Texoma Medical Center.
“I worked for TMC from 2015 until 2025 and then I left there and started this.”
The new venture is next door to the original location.
“It was built by Dr. Cuesta – I gues in the ’80s – then he sold it to Dr. Grider,” Hamblin said. “And Dr. Grider leased it to the hospital about 2015 or so and moved over there. And the hospital is leasing it to me.
“They helped me refurbish. Shelton Williams and Pruhdvi Reddy, the CEO and assistant CEO, have been very helpful in getting all this up and running and getting it the way it looks. And of course, my staff and my family have worked hard to get it looking nice and ready to see patients.
“And it’s ready.”
Hamblin has lived in Bryan County since 1990. He came to Durant after he got out of the Air Force and moved this direction to attend Southeastern Oklahoma State University, where he graduated with a degree in aviation. And got married.
But his plans to go further with a career as a pilot changed and he started to look down a different path.
“The aviation industry kind of fell off and I went back to school and did some pre-requisites and got admitted to P.A. school in 1994.
“I’m now in my 29th year of practice as a P.A. I’ve done urgent care for 21 years, eight years in the emergency room and about a year of family practice, general surgery stuff with the Lees and Dr. Sumner.”
Loyalty Health Urgent Care is located at 1805 W. University Blvd. in Durant.
“We don’t really have a big presence online,” Hamblin said. “We do have a Facebook page that Loyalty Health that people can go to and get updates about what’s going on. We’re open five days a week – Monday through Friday – 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
“That’s 40 hours a week and I think that’s enough for a guy my age to be working. I am working on trying to encourage fellow like-minded health care providers to join me in this venture. So I’m looking for a full-time second partner to spread the hours out more like 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Friday and then some hours on the weekends and get it up to where we’re each working 30-35 hours a week. And then hopefully we’re working on getting some people that can work part-time for us and then work one weekend here and there and so by the end of the year, we’ll be up to where we’ll be open seven days a week and have a full complement of providers.
But I’m going to be picky on who I choose to be a provider because I have a specific way I like medicine to be practiced and I’m very hands-on. I don’t do video visits and telehealth and all that because I don’t think the health care is as good when you’re not there and can put your hands on the patient, connect with them and look them over well. I just think we get better health care and better provider-patient relationship when we’re in the same room, so that’s the direction I’m taking my practice”
Patients can also reach Loyalty Health Urgent Care by phone at (580) 931-5010.