With two weeks before the Nov. 6 election, Boone County government candidates spoke at an NAACP forum Tuesday night at Second Missionary Baptist Church.
Among the candidates in attendance were current Boone County Presiding Commissioner Dan Atwill and his opponent Matt Cavanaugh. The two were asked questions about the current states of the Boone Hospital Center and the Central Missouri Events Center.
Cavanaugh was extremely critical of the current state of the hospital, mentioning that the hospital has lost $3 million over the past two years.
“Boone Hospital is in dire straits,” Cavanaugh said.
He is worried about the possibility of MU taking over the Boone Hospital Center, which he feels would give people less choice over their health care.
Despite his concerns, Cavanaugh did not provide a solution for the hospital.
“I don’t have an answer for it,” he said.
Atwill showed less concern about the hospital. Changes in medical science were leading to more people being discharged earlier and leading to less revenue, he said.
“Less occupancy means less value into the revenue stream,” he said.
Regarding the event center, which closed in 2015, Atwill defended the lack of maintenance, saying that the maintenance is not the responsibility of the commission.
He also said that the property, which is owned by the county, has made a profit over the last three years.
“We shouldn’t rush into something,” Atwill said.
Cavanaugh was not able to comment on the event center because he used up his two allotted minutes talking about the hospital.
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