Noble Health Completing Feasibility Study on Reopening a Bourbon County, Kansas Hospital

While Noble Health continues to struggle to operate two mid-Missouri hospitals, KWWR/KXEO news has learned they are involved in recommending a community led organization to move forward on possibly taking over a shuttered hospital in Fort Scott, Kansas.

At the end of January, Bourbon City, Kansas officials announced that Noble Health would be taking over the old Mercy Hospital in Fort Scott. Mercy closed that location in 2018, and donated the building to the county, however last Friday, County Commissioners held a meeting and changed course to say Noble was awaiting results of a study on the building. They are expected to make a decision on whether they are a part of reopening the hospital once that study is complete.

Tuesday night, Tom Boozer with Noble Health Real Estate, appeared at Bourbon County, Kansas Commission meeting and talked about the feasibility study. At the same meeting Drew Solomon, President of Noble Health Real Estate, said it was recommended for the hospital to move forward as a 501 (c)(3).

KWWR/KXEO news spoke with the news director at KOAMnewsnow.com, who says the Bourbon County Commission has paid Noble Health one million dollars for the feasibility study already and Noble Health communications specialist Nancy Mays confirms that is accurate. Mays also says that Noble at this time is no way planning on running or taking over the hospital in Fort Scott.

In a phone call with Bourbon County, Kansas Chairman Jim Harris this morning (Friday) with KWWR/KXEO news, he confirmed that Noble Health Corporation is indeed interested in opening a hospital there, and the feasibility study will also allow them to look at other groups interested in opening a hospital.

Harris says the Bourbon County Commission reached out to Noble Health Corporation about 6 months ago to do the current feasibility study.

Just last week on Friday, March 25th, Noble Health announced it was ceasing all hospital operations in Mexico and Fulton while they restructured their financial operations with the plans to re-open soon.

O’Brien told KWWR/KXEO news earlier this week that Noble was struggling with their payroll and having issues with their billing systems and IT services impacting their revenue cycle.

Noble Health has asked for a temporary suspension of services at the hospitals in Mexico and Fulton for the next 90 days and say they are having employee meetings each week on Tuesday and Thursday.

O’Brien says they struggled with payroll during the last pay period, however did get most employees paid, but confirmed that during yesterday’s (Thursday) employee meeting in Mexico, employees were told payroll would be delayed again, for an unknown period.