The University of Kansas Health System, which has its primary location in Kansas City, Kansas, is set to partner with Liberty Hospital, sparking discontent among some state lawmakers. (Allison Kite/Missouri Independent)
Liberty Hospital would be at risk of falling into the hands of a for-profit chain and losing important services if Missouri lawmakers block a proposed takeover by the University of Kansas Health System, a board member for the Northland hospital argued last week.
Speaking to a Missouri Senate committee, Liberty Hospital board president Dennis Carter implored lawmakers not to pass legislation meant to kill the proposed deal.
Doing so, he said, could result in the public hospital getting scooped up by a chain that he fears would shutter its labor and delivery center and Level II trauma center.
“If we go for-profit, we’ll be a little bit more than a triage center, but we will not be what Liberty Hospital and the people who voted us into office want us to be,” Carter said.