Group forms to fight St. Mary’s Hospital purchase

Opponents of the University of Missouri’s purchase of a Jefferson City hospital have formed a not-for-profit organization to fight the deal.

The group A Coalition for Choice was recently formed as a 501(c)(4) organization and has raised money and started to buy advertising against University of Missouri Health Care’s proposed purchase of facilities in mid-Missouri operated by St. Louis-based SSM Health, group spokesman Matt Swift said. Those operations include St. Mary’s Hospital in Jefferson City and the SSM hospital in Mexico, Missouri.

“A Coalition for Choice was created to oppose healthcare monopolies and to advocate for consumer choice in Missouri healthcare,” the organization said in a news release. “The citizens that launched A Coalition for Choice became concerned after MU Health announced its intent to purchase SSM Health’s Mid-Missouri assets, including SSM St. Mary’s Hospital in Jefferson City. MU Health is currently lobbying to pass legislation that will enable them to merge their affiliate Capital Region Medical Center with what is currently the SSM St. Mary’s facility, creating one consolidated hospital system in Jefferson City.”

The coalition said it’s worried having so many hospitals operated by one organization will drive up health care costs. MU Health Care leaders have defended the move saying it will expand health care access in places such as Mexico and provide better care for people in Jefferson City.

MU Health has said it doesn’t expect the deal to cause patient costs to increase. MU Health CEO Jonathan Curtwright has called the deal “transformational.”

News of MU Health’s proposal became public in August. Earlier this month Curtwright told the University of Missouri Board of Curators that talks with SSM were ongoing.

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