Meet the Meat Doctor: Oklahoma’s Only Clinic and Butcher Shop

Only in Oklahoma could you go see your doctor for joint pain and end up leaving with a freezer full of bison meat.

That’s not a punchline... this is a true Oklahoma story.

As it goes, my grandma turned 95 years old this year. If you weren't aware, and she'll be the first to tell you this, getting old is awful. Not only do you have to watch your family and friends die off, but the older you get, the more you hurt. It's nature's cruel way of punishing success in living, as our bodies slowly begin to wear out and shut down.

Aging wears on more than just the physical body, it takes a toll on a person mentally as well. The common joke is that old people are cranky because they're simply old, but it's more or less because they feel awful all the time, and it just comes out through their communications. Totally normal human behavior.

Seeking a fix for one of her million conditions, she ended up with an appointment here in Lawton to see rheumatologist Dr. Tommie Simon.

She liked him. In fact, she's been back a few times now, but the biggest surprise isn't the fact that she actually liked this doctor... it was the meat market he operates in his waiting room.

A Doctor With an Unusual Side Hustle

Trust me, when Papa Kelso (my dad) told me about walking into the doctor and coming away with some tasty bison jerky, we laughed about it for far longer than you'd think we could. It's just such a silly thought, and something that could only be found in Southwest Oklahoma.

Curiosity got the best of me, and Google had some answers.

Dr. Tommie Simon came to Lawton in 2018 to establish his practice, but somewhere between writing prescriptions and treating patients, he picked up a second passion, ranching and raising bison.

Now, it didn’t start with some long ranching family heritage or childhood spent around livestock. In fact, he had no background in agriculture at all. What he did have were office windows. Windows that happened to overlook a local bison producer’s herd on the Southwest side of Lawton.

From Office Windows to Bison Herds

You know how it works. We see something enough, we'll eventually romance the idea of becoming involved. So Dr. Simon bought some buffalo and established his ranch.

Dr. Simon’s ranch eventually led to Texoma Bison Company, where he now sells meat directly to the community. Not through the farmer’s market or a distributor, literally out of his medical office.

Think about that for a second... You show up for your appointment, talk about your knees or arthritis, and then maybe you grab a package of ground bison on the way out.

Does the receptionist hand you both a prescription slip and a price list? Is there a cooler in the waiting room next to the magazines? However it works, it’s peak Oklahoma.

And honestly, it makes a lot of sense. Bison is about as lean and nutrient-packed as red meat gets. If you’re in the business of keeping people healthy, what better side hustle than raising one of the healthiest meats around? In a way, Dr. Simon is carrying on the tradition of medicine men, except this one can also hook you up with a roast for Sunday dinner.

Of course, raising bison isn’t easy. They’re not cattle that politely follow a feed bucket. They’re massive, moody, and closer to wild than tame. They’ll jump fences, plow through gates, and generally remind you that humans don’t actually run the show. For someone with zero livestock background to take that on and succeed is no small feat.

The next time someone asks you about Oklahoma, you can tell them about the doctor who operates the most wildly curious clinic/meat market in the state. Because, and even you have to admit this, only in Oklahoma does this sound perfectly normal.