As the conclusion to the legislative session approaches, so does the deadline to pass the state’s budget. One battle that remains in that process, is Hannibal Region Healthcare System’s request for state funds for facilities in Kirksville.
Kirksville is served by Northeast Regional Medical Center and is nearly a 100 mile drive, from Hannibal.
More specifically, the request of funding for the “planning, design and construction equipment of a radiation oncology center” by Hannibal’s hospital system was a late addition to House Bill 11, planned for a senate floor substitute that avoided vetting by the House and Senate Committees dealing with the budget process.
Hannibal Regional’s effort has also circumvented another key vetting process to date, a “Certificate of Need” (CON) from the Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee. Missouri’s CON law requires a demonstration of need before new healthcare facilities and services are introduced into a community.
Northeast Regional Medical Center (NRMC) is a full-service, general acute-care hospital. A teaching hospital, NRMC employs more than 500 healthcare professionals, and houses 93 licensed hospital beds.
Demand for labor could become a financial hardship for both health systems. This is happening while other hospitals in the region are facing possible closures, following the demise of Audrain Community Hospital, in Mexico.
Further complicating the issue is that Hannibal Regional’s bond rating has been downgraded twice since 2022 by Fitch Ratings, citing concerns with capital investments in Kirksville.
Skeptics of the expansion also are wary of Missouri taxpayers paying for the expansion that has yet to be approved.
“At worst, it is an attempt to end-run the CON process and improperly ask the legislature to find there is need for another hospital in Kirksville,” said Chuck Hatfield, an attorney for Northeast Regional Medical Center. “That is not the proper role of the body. The law assigns that responsibility elsewhere… even if Hannibal were to obtain a CON, appropriating money for private purposes is prohibited by the Missouri Constitution.”
Last year, Gov. Mike Parson issued 201 line-item vetoes, totaling $555.3 million. Among those items was a no-interest loan to an aluminum smelter in rural southeast Missouri. The intention of was to spur economic development, but critics said it was an unconstitutional effort to use state funds to support private interests.
The battle between the two hospitals will continue through the budget process. Lawmakers will likely finalize the state’s budget this month.
Kelton is a 2023 graduate of the University of Missouri with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies. He is a native of mid-Missouri and likes to write politics at both the state and federal levels. Kelton joined the Missouri Times in April 2022
