MU Health Care’s consolidated operating margin across Columbia and Jefferson City for the 2026 fiscal year remains $56.1 million below expected revenue.
At Thursday’s UM System Board of Curators’ Health Affairs Committee meeting, Greg Damron, MU Health Care’s chief financial officer, updated the committee on the current financial situation. MU Health Care was expecting an operating gain of $57 million by February but has only reached about $900,000.
“We’ve actually worsened a little bit since the last report, which was through December, we were working with a $3 million margin,” Damron said. “We’re now just short of a million-dollar margin.”
According to Damron’s presentation, Columbia comes in $45.4 million below projected revenue, while Jefferson City is $10.8 million below its mark.
The biggest expenses to MU Health Care behind salaries and benefits were supplies and other expenses. Supplies went $19.2 million over budget, and other expenses went $33.9 million over budget.
The report comes one year after MU Health Care left its contract with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield before reaching an agreement in July 2025.
MU Health Care did see a rate increase after its negotiations with Anthem, but the period the university system spent out of network is still affecting its finances, according to Damron.
Thompson Center grand opening, other updates
Richard Barohn, executive vice chancellor for health affairs, provided several updates to the committee during the meeting.
The Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment will host its grand opening celebration and open house on May 8 at its new location at 701 Veterans United Drive.
The world-class facility for autism and neurodevelopment care, training and research opened for operation on March 10.
“This new, state-of-art facility represents what we do at MU Health Care and the School of Medicine, and that’s to say, improve lives through clinical care, education and research,” Barohn said. “We did all of this at the Thompson Center in the prior facility, and we’re going to do it at an even larger scale in this new facility.”
The new building features a laboratory, clinic spaces and a sensory-friendly playground.
Barohn also shared that the Liaison Committee on Medical Education approved the Springfield clinical campus expansion to a four-year program.
The curators voted last fall to approve development at the School of Medicine’s clinical campus in Springfield.
Currently, undergraduates must complete their first two years in Columbia before finishing the clinical level training program at the Springfield campus.
“We can transition the Springfield campus into a full, four-year medical program, and this represents a very strategic commitment to address rural physician shortages,” Barohn said.
The university purchased a new building in Springfield that will become the home for the clinical campus. A ribbon cutting ceremony is planned for June 24.
