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KBIA’s Health & Wealth Desk covers the economy and health of rural and underserved communities in Missouri and beyond. The team produces a weekly radio segment, as well as in-depth features and regular blog posts. The reporting desk is funded by a grant from the University of Missouri, and the Missouri Foundation for Health.Contact the Health & Wealth desk.

Boone Hospital Considering Five Proposals For Future Operations

Bram Sable-Smith
/
KBIA

The Boone County Hospital Board of Trustees announced Thursday it’s considering five operating proposals for the hospital’s future.

The Hospital is currently in a lease agreement through the year 2020 with St. Louis-based BJC Health Care. A new operating agreement with BJC is one of five options Boone Hospital’s Board of Trustees is considering for its future.

Another option under consideration is a partnership with University of Missouri Health Care. Boone Hospital Board of Trustees Treasurer Bob Wagner said the Trustees have not yet determined whether a partnership with their crosstown competition is a viable option.

“There is a possibility that may be construed, legally, as a conflict of interest. So it’s just a possibility at this point in time,” Wagner said.

“We’ve been looking for ways to collaborate with the University of years,” Wagner added. “There’s got to be areas where we can work together instead of just competing on everything.”

Mary Jenkins, MU Health Care’s public relations manager, said they’re “pleased and honored to be included among the potions being considered by the [Boone Hospital] Trustees.”

Wagner said there’s fine-tuning to be done on all of the proposals, which also include operating partnerships with Duke LifePoint Healthcare—a joint venture out of North Carolina and Tennessee—or with Kansas City-based Saint Luke’s Health System.

The final option is for Boone Hospital to operate independently.

A curious Columbia, Mo. native, Bram Sable-Smith has documented mbira musicians in Zimbabwe, mining protests in Chile, and the St. Louis airport's tumultuous relationship with the Chinese cargo business. His reporting from Ferguson, Mo. was part of a KBIA documentary honored by the Missouri Broadcasters Association and winner of a national Edward R. Murrow Award. He comes to KBIA most recently from the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland, Maine.
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