County commission approves sale of Boone Health
Watch the news conference live at 3:25 p.m. in the video player.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Boone County Commission approved a proposed sale of Boone Health on Thursday after a meeting that lasted an hour and a half and included public comment questioning the transparency of the process.
The buyer was not disclosed, but officials indicated it was a publicly traded company.
The commission voted 3-0 to approve the sale.
The $36 million sale to an unnamed health care partner includes the land and buildings that make up the hospital.
Boone County commissioners noted that the outcome without the sale would likely be the hospital going out of business, which would have other implications for quality of care.
"If we have one hospital system in this county, all of us are going to suffer,” Northern District Commissioner Janet Thompson told a citizen during public comment.
Hospital leadership and a representative with Juniper Advisory, which helped the health system's board of trustees find the buyer, said costs were increasing and reimbursement is expected to decrease when the One Big Beautiful Bill Act comes into effect next year.
Presiding Commissioner Kip Kendrick said a "no" vote by the commission would kill the deal and likely be "devastating."
According to the commission documents, Boone Health's Board of Trustees determined that it was not "financially feasible" for the hospital operations to continue operating as an independent organization.
According to previous reporting, Presiding Commissioner Kip Kendrick said during the commission meeting Tuesday that the new "partner" is set to be announced. In the documents, the new partner is labeled as "Organization B."
Boone Health CEO Brandy Dubois said this week that Boone Health staff who are in good standing will have the option to stay and keep their pay rate if the partnership moves forward.
Boone Health will also hold a news conference at 3:15 p.m. Thursday to announce the future of the hospital.
The Boone Health news release states the announcement will be about the organization's "long-term future" and will "discuss impacts to the community."
Three speakers will be at the conference, including the chair of Boone Health Board of Directors, chair of Boone Health Board of Trustees and CEO of Boone Health.
This is an ongoing story, check back for updates.
