Audrain County, Boone Health proceed with plans for new hospital
MEXICO, Mo. (KMIZ)
Audrain County, the City of Mexico and Boone Heath have taken the next steps to get a hospital up and running.
On Monday, the Audrain County Commission, County Health Department, and Boone Health signed a letter of intent to begin building a Medicare-certified critical access hospital in Mexico.
This comes after city and county leaders signed a non-disclosure agreement in April and purchased the shuttered hospital in July. Boone Health said it would need to conduct an eight-to-12-month assessment of the community to figure out its needs before building a new hospital.
“They are a great partner to have in this process. The referral patterns have been there for years, so quite frankly, it's a natural time, but the process takes time and that's the other part, the sooner we get started, the better because by the time you go through the process to get it here, it could take three years,” Mexico City Manager Bruce Slagle said.
Mexico lost its hospital in 2022 after the Nobel Health Group announced it was suspending operations in Callaway and Audrain County. ZivaMed later took over but also laid off workers and closed Audrain Community Hospital in January, dealing a large blow to the community. Noble Health owned a hospital in Fulton that also shuttered.
“As a community that’s out in the rural part of the state we are 45 minutes away [from the nearest hospital] that’s the difference between life and death for some folks,” Slagle said.
Despite the previous failed attempts to revitalize the hospital from other providers, the city is confident that Boone Health can deliver.
"The difference is: We are dealing with a healthcare provider here. A proven, known, local healthcare provider,” Slagle said. “Previous attempts to do something was really not by known, proven healthcare providers. These guys know what they’re doing. They know how to do it. That’s the difference.”
The letter of intent outlines the intent of all parties to work collaboratively toward an agreement to operate a hospital. The proposed facility would provide emergency and related services, filling a critical healthcare gap in Audrain County. Under the proposed plan, Boone Health will manage or lease the hospital facility once constructed, ensuring high-quality, accessible healthcare for residents.
According to a release, the letter of intent outlines the parties' commitment to collaborating on a comprehensive agreement to bring a new critical access hospital to the community. The proposed facility aims to provide emergency-related services and address the growing need for health care in Audrain County. Under the plan, Boone Health would manage or lease the hospital upon completion, ensuring residents have access to care.
Boone Health President/Chief Executive Officer Brady Dubois told ABC 17 News in April that Boone Health was not planning on using the shuttered hospital in Mexico. However, the location for the new location and cost estimate for the project are yet to be determined.
“We’ve been pretty clear, our desire is to have a completely new hospital for multiple reasons. one the current hospital doesn’t meet any current codes and it’s just way too large,” Dubois said.
The biggest focus for the new hospital is emergency services. It will be smaller than the old hospital with only around 25 beds. However, the hospital will still be able to provide major surgeries.
“Nobody wants to drive 45 minutes after surgery,” Dubois said. ”They prefer a five-minute drive home. So that's our goal, is to make sure that we are able to do a wide range of surgical procedures, diagnostic procedures, advanced imaging, and everything else to keep everything here on time.”
Dubois added the new hospital could employ 175-200 new staff members. It is still unclear what will become of the shuttered hospital, but after Audrain County purchased the building in July, Presiding Commissioner Alan Winders said in a release that “having local control and ownership of the property is in our best interest.”
Dubois said many residents have already expressed interest in working in their hometown.
“Overall there's just a genuine sense of excitement. You know, folks want to be a part of something special,” Dubois said. “I think what's going to be developed here is going to be absolutely special.”
As for the other positions that locals can’t fill, Duboise doesn’t think it will be difficult to recruit people to want to work in the area.
“Overall there's just a genuine sense of excitement. You know, folks want to be a part of something special,” Dubois said. “I think what's going to be developed here is going to be absolutely special.”
