A group interested in keeping hospital facilities available in Callaway County is encouraged by an idea generated by Bruce Hackmann, economic development director.
He sat down Wednesday morning with Callaway County commissioners and chamber and Fulton city officials, who supported his idea to reach out to Centric Management Services, a firm in Georgia that told him of a way the hospital might be preserved.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture community facility guaranteed loan could help purchase the Fulton Medical Center, scheduled to close by Sept. 22. This loan could be granted to a nonprofit organization and would federally guarantee 90 percent of the loan amount.
"A bank would find that very attractive," Hackmann said.
City and county officials would pay an initial fee of about $10,000 to retain Centric, which would handle negotiations with the medical center's current owner, NueHealth. Negotiations with possible organizations to operate the hospital were mentioned, including SSM Health (which opened a clinic in Fulton a year ago), Boone Hospital and the University of Missouri/MU Health.
Hackmann listed reasons this USDA loan, which involves no taxing entities, could work.
"It would put control of the hospital back into the local community," he said. "It would put (the ownership) into a nonprofit."
Unlike for-profit hospitals, grants for nonprofits are more readily available, he added.
The overall fee to the consulting firm would be 1 percent of the purchase price, and while NueHealth has a $6 million price tag on the facility, a lower price could possibly be negotiated. A successful sale of the facility for $4 million would require a $40,000 fee to the consultant, split 50/50 between the city of Fulton and Callaway County.
If negotiations can be completed quickly, Hackmann added, it's possible the Fulton Medical Center could stay open without interruption.
"The USDA will issue a letter of intent, which we would take to Nue(Health). That would keep the doors open," Hackmann said.
Best of all, the community would have a hospital - a strong tool for economic development and community welfare - without a tax burden, he added.
"This gets all the talk about tax districts off the table," he said. "Nobody wants to do that."
County Commissioner Randy Kleindienst said he was saddened by the thought of a closed hospital.
"I think if we get in there with $20,000 each, that would be money well spent for our community," he said. "Something like this has a chance. I think we owe it to our people. If we're talking about that kind of money, I'm in the game."
Fellow Callaway County Commissioner Roger Fischer asked what the terms might include. Hackmann said at a 5.5 percent interest rate and a purchase price of $4 million, monthly payments might be $16,000 or so, or just above $204,000 yearly, paid by the nonprofit owner.
Fischer suggested new purposes for the hospital in addition to emergency services, including hospice care and a substance abuse rehabilitation center.
Centric is a consulting company that provides services to health care entities including financing and capital.
Hackmann said other options still include NueHealth finding new ownership or creating a new urgent care center elsewhere which could have limited hours and services.
The Fulton Medical Center is a 59,000-square-foot, 37-bed acute care hospital with a 4,000-square-foot medical building and 8.53 acres. The current asking price includes its hospital license, outpatient clinic, six-bed ER, 19-bed "GeriPsych" unit (specialized services for patients with dementia and Alzheimer's), and an 18-bed medical surgical unit. There are two operating rooms, a pharmacy, CT and MRI services, and a cafeteria.