Jan 17, 2020

Kan. company closes Missouri hospital with short notice

Posted Jan 17, 2020 12:00 AM

Pinnacle Regional Hospital courtesy photo

BOONVILLE, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas hospital company abruptly closed a central Missouri hospital Wednesday, citing regulatory problems.

Pinnacle Regional Hospital announced early Wednesday the full-service, community hospital in Boonville would close by the end of the day. Discussions with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services led officials to believe "that the economic hardship of bringing the facility into compliance is too great to make the appropriate repairs necessary,” hospital officials said in a statement.

The hospital did not specify what compliance issues it was facing.

Boonville, a town of about 8,400 people, also will lose a clinic and a rehab facility.

Pinnacle, based in Overland Park, Kansas, also operates Pinnacle Regional Hospital and Blue Valley Surgical Associates. which were not affected by the closure of the Missouri hospital.

Pinnacle spokeswoman Lori Davies said doctors will staff the emergency room in Boonville for 14 days but she would not comment on the future of about 160 hospital employees.

Pinnacle purchased the Cooper County Memorial Hospital in Boonville in October 2018.