Columbia hospital deal includes airport gift

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - A deal to extend a Boone County hospital's lease with a St. Louis health care provider includes a $500,000 donation to improve services at Columbia Regional Airport.

The Columbia Missourian reports (http://bit.ly/KZbkX8 ) that the Boone Hospital Center will extend its lease with BJC Health Care, which owns Barnes Jewish Hospital, through 2020. The hospital's trustees and Boone County commissioners agreed to the lease extension earlier this week.

The hospital sought the one-time donation to help recruit more doctors to mid-Missouri. The St. Louis health care company will also give another $500,000 to Boone County, which owns the hospital, for use at its discretion.

That's on top of a $1.6 million annual lease payment to the county plus $500,000 each year for community health needs.

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Information from: Columbia Missourian, http://www.columbiamissourian.com