Boone Health awarded $475K in ARPA funding to expand hospital unit
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Boone Health was awarded $475,000 in ARPA funding from the Boone County Commission to expand its progressive care unit.
Boone Health says that the money will help double the unit from 16 beds to 32. The hospital believes that this expansion will allow for a better flow of patients, while also helping match patients to the right level of care.
“These are for people who have been in the ICU, are getting better but are not quite ready for that regular hospital bed where there's less monitoring and you know it, you tend to be able to kind of sleep on your own and do those kinds of things,” Boone Health spokesman Christian Basi said.
According to Boone County Presiding Commissioner Kip Kendrick, the commission received several applications from Boone Health during the second round of ARPA funding.
“They made a strong case for it and then County Commissioners are really happy to fund that opportunity,” Kendrick said.
Northern District Commissioner Janet Thompson added that the commission had to go through more than 100 applications, which had a total of over $100 million in funding requests. The commission only had $15 million to spend, which made funding decisions difficult.
“You never think that millions of dollars is a limited fund,” Thompson said. “But when you look at over $100 million worth of asks, it puts it all in perspective, doesn't it?”
After Boone Health’s application for an expanded care unit caught the eye of the commission, county commissioner Janet Thompson says she turned to her brother, a physician who has been practicing medicine for several decades and has experience running a hospital, to help make an informed decision.
“His response was, I wish my hospital had had something like that because of the kind of care that it could provide for patients. And that helps to solidify. For me, it just really was something that would have a huge impact on the quality of care that Bruin could provide. Boone Hospital is known for the care it provides its patients,” Thompson said
Boone Health wrote on its application that the progressive care unit expansion “will enable the facility to provide higher quality care for higher acuity patients, including patients with COVID-19.”
“They made a strong case for it. And then county commissioners are really happy to fund that opportunity,” Kendrick said. “It would have been helpful during the pandemic, but it's certainly very helpful moving forward and continuing on.”
On top of adding 16 new beds, the money will also help fund new cardiac monitors and patient lifts in the unit. Basi said the room can also serve as a cardiology overflow.
"We've seen higher patient volume in many of our areas and in particular, we've always needed to be able to utilize our ICU units. And so we want to make sure that the people who need them are able to get them,” Basi said. It also allows us to free up a bed and ICU for another patient who's going to need it.”
