Health care provider Boone Health is looking for a business partner to aid expansion, and officials in Audrain County say that could mean rejuvenating hospital access locally.
After Noble Health abruptly closed the hospital it operated in Mexico, Missouri, three years ago, Boone Health signed a letter of intent to bring medical services back to the town.
Audrain County Commissioner Alan Winders has been working to secure plans for a critical access hospital in Mexico, which would include an emergency room and a dozen beds. He said the recent changes at Boone Health could be good for them.
“Based on our conversations with Boone, we see it as a positive development,” Winders said. “These kinds of relationships are not uncommon. They bring a synergy. They can bring capital. We think it may actually expedite the construction of the hospital here.”
In a joint statement, the city of Mexico, Audrain County Health Department and Audrain County Commission said officials are optimistic Boone Health’s pursuit of a business partner could “accelerate the return of hospital services to Audrain County” and bring “increased resources, expertise, and healthcare capabilities to benefit residents of Mexico and surrounding communities.”
Boone Health covers 26 counties in mid-Missouri and is approaching 16 health systems about a partnership, which CEO Brady Dubois said would help the company expand in places like Mexico.
“We want to be able to better support rural health care, and we've got a large demand,” Dubois said.
Although Winders said this is a positive development in the community’s journey to reestablish local health care, it will likely still take years to become a reality.
“We needed it yesterday, and we'll get it as quickly as we can,” he said. “I believe that Boone Health is working as quickly as they can, and I know that we're doing everything we can.”
‘We bought a building.’
When the former health care provider operating the Mexico hospital shut down services and fired staff, local governments in the area — with the support of a foundation — purchased the site in a foreclosure sale.
Now, Audrain County and the city of Mexico own the sprawling complex and are assessing what can be repurposed and what can’t.
“We bought it knowing that its days as a hospital were probably limited, if not over,” Winders said. “So we bought a building.”
Due to its size and age, local officials plan to demolish most of the former hospital in the coming years. The newer parts could be used for a future critical access hospital or as Mexico’s city hall. Winders said officials aim to have the space made available through demolition to be shovel-ready.
“We intend to have land cleared right there with utilities in place so a new facility can be constructed,” he said.
Winders said a study was commissioned to determine whether the area could support a critical access hospital, and he said the results confirmed it could. Winders said Boone Health fits the qualifications of a known quality provider.
“The people of this community will support a hospital if it is a known provider with a solid reputation,” Winders said. “Of course, that is driven in no small part by our experience with unknown providers with bad reputations, which we saw our share of frankly.”
