by JAMES S. TYREE, Staff Writer
email@opubco.com , The Oklahoman

OU President David Boren said the University of Oklahoma Wayman Tisdale Health Center will be built next to the nonprofit agency Neighbor for Neighbor at 36th Street and Hartford Avenue, and construction will begin later this year.

OU regents on Wednesday approved a resolution on naming the clinic. The Rev. Weldon Tisdale, Wayman Tisdale's brother, attended the meeting on behalf of his family.

"He was so overwhelmed and overjoyed with all the recognitions taking place," Weldon Tisdale said after remarking that his brother never was one to seek the spotlight. "His desire was to see lives enriched and lengthened."

Boren said the clinic "is long-needed in north Tulsa" because the area has about 25 percent of the city's population but only 4 percent of its medical specialists. Tisdale, a three-time Big Eight Conference player of the year and first-team All-American from 1983 through 1985, is a Tulsa native who graduated from Booker T. Washington High School.

The 50,000-square-foot clinic will feature cancer, cardiac and urgent care services, along with MRI and CT scan equipment, an endoscope, outpatient surgery and a cardiac rehabilitation center.

Boren said funding was secured by late 2007, with half of the $20 million coming from the Legislature and state agencies and the other $10 million from private foundations and health organizations.

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