Fort Scott will get a new hospital.
The Fort Scott City Commission and the Bourbon County Commission signed a contract in July 2021 to facilitate Noble Health Corp’s feasibility study of reopening the former Mercy Hospital building as an acute care hospital.
Today, the decision was announced by Noble Health Corp. to move forward with the project.
Bourbon County, the City of Fort Scott, and other government officials and members of the community gathered in the McAuley Center at the former Mercy Hospital this morning to hear the announcement.
Rob Harrington, Bourbon County Rural Economic Development; Drew Solomon, Noble Health Corp.; Clifton Beth, Bourbon County Commissioner; Fort Scott Mayor Kevin Allen; Merrill Atwater, Noble Health; Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt; U.S. Senator Jerry Moran; and U.S. House of Representative Jake LaTurner all spoke at the event.
The facility will reopen as Noble Health Bourbon County Community Hospital.
Harrington said that approximately 100 jobs will be available in the new hospital and that a Request for Quote will go out in a couple of weeks for the first phase of the construction process.
The whole process could take a year to complete, he said.
The building is located at 401 Woodland Hills Blvd. on Fort Scott’s south side, just west of Hwy.69.
Mercy Hospital closed its doors in December 2018, following declining patient numbers and shrinking reimbursement for services.
The building currently houses the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas clinic and the Ascension Via Christi Emergency Department. Fort Scott Community College has used the patient rooms on the west side of the facility for student housing for the last few years. On the ground level is I Am Rehab Physical Therapy and Fitness and a hair salon, Diamonds in the Marketplace.
“Ascension Via Christi will be staying for a longer period and is currently working out the details of a long-term lease with Noble,” Harrington said in a later email. “CHC’s lease will be expiring at their current location (December 2022), however, they will be continuing services at their new location at the old Price Chopper building after build-out. Also, CHC has been told that they have as long as they need to stay at their current location if the build-out takes longer than expected.”
Background of the Project
Noble Health Corp., Kansas City, announced on June 25, 2021, the contract for the study.
To view the Noble Health Corp. announcement:
Reopening An Acute Care Hospital In Fort Scott Being Explored by Noble Health
The city contributed $200,000, the county contributed $800,000 towards the feasibility study, according to the contract. The local government entities used American Rescue Plan money from the federal government for the project, according to Bourbon County Commissioner Clifton Beth.
The American Rescue Plan Act 2021 can be viewed at ARP Act SxS – as of 02.22.21.pdf (house.gov)
The feasibility study investigated the condition of title to the development property, the physical condition of the property, the zoning, the economic feasibility, and all matters relevant to the acquisition, usage, operation, valuation, and marketability of the property and the project, as the developer deemed appropriate
The county government agreed to contribute at least $2,000,000 to finance certain costs and expenses related to and associated with the project, according to the contract.
It would be great to have a hospital in bourbon county again as long as our taxes and cost of living do not go up because jobs in bourbon county do not pay enough as it is for all the taxes and cost living. It is hard for a lot of people to get by.
What services will the new hospital provide? How will they work with CHCSEK? Is Via Christi still doing an ER?
Brian
See the response to those questions in the email that Rob Harrington later sent to fortscott.biz
This is great news!! We need acute care in Bourbon County. I hope a new mother, child and family center will be a focus as we need to have care here for our families wanting to have children. Also, hoping Noble will consider midwifery as a way to provide maternity and family care.
If this is the same Noble Health Corp that was going to keep our hospital here in Mexico, Missouri open-then I am afraid that you all may have been taken. Please research what happened here and how they closed services down, failed to pay employees, didn’t pay the health/life insurance premiums and employees were left with unexpected bills. I can send photos of many of the articles printed in our paper, the Mexico Ledger.