Audrain and Callaway County community hospitals have a new Texas-based owner

FULTON, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Texas-based hospital and medical management company announced on Friday that they are assuming control of both the Audrain and Callaway County community hospitals.

Platinum Team Management made the announcement after they came to an agreement with Noble Health to "bring quality care and emergency services to rural regions," according to a news release.

The announcement comes after Noble Health suspended all services at the hospitals on March 25 and furloughed 175 employees on April 6.

Fulton Mayor Lowe Cannell said, "It's a win for us, at least in the short term, rural hospitals I think in general struggle, for several reasons, but right now we are just thankful that we are going to get a hospital back open very soon."

"We're there to keep local, quality healthcare in the area," said Cory Countryman, president of Platinum Hospitals in a release.

The Platinum team said the rural communities like Callaway and Audrain County need hospitals to bring care to people who live in "medical deserts" and "will continue to provide healthcare services for the otherwise limited medical access region."

This includes

• ICU
• Surgery
• In-patient rehab
• Women's health
• Pain management

Cannell said, "I think I'd like to see them focus on the profitability of the hospital and the sustainability of the operations as a whole."