State health officials grant owner more time to reopen hospitals in Fulton, Mexico

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

State health officials have granted the owners of community hospitals in Fulton and Mexico more time to hold onto their licenses while the hospitals remain closed.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services notified Platinum Medical Management on Wednesday that it was granted a variance to state rules regarding suspended hospital licenses.

Then-owner Noble Health closed the hospitals in Mexico and Fulton closed in the spring and notified the state that about 170 employees would be furloughed. Noble then sold the hospitals to Texas-based Platinum. They have not reopened.

Platinum's licenses for the hospitals had already been suspended once. Suspension allows those licenses to remain valid even while the hospitals are closed. The state health department this week granted a waiver to some regulations, which allows the license to be suspended again for 90 days.

State health officials say in the letters that the extension will allow Platinum more time to finish work on the emergency room at the Mexico hospital and repair a critical part of the plumbing system in Fulton.

A Platinum spokesperson told ABC 17 News that the company wasn't ready to release more details about its plans for the hospitals.