A Promise Fulfilled

By Jessica Park

Long before Columbia became mid-Missouri’s medical center, people received healthcare in their doctor’s office or at home. But as the city grew and medicine advanced, new approaches were required. This need was made plain in 1918 when the flu pandemic struck Boone County. Parker Memorial Hospital at the University of Missouri quickly became crowded. At one point, severely ill flu patients were placed in tents on Stankowski Field, which unfortunately resulted in the virus spreading further. During the crisis, local physicians, including Dr. Frank Nifong, pledged that Boone County would provide safe medical care for its citizens and led the founding of Boone County Hospital.

Since the hospital first opened its doors to its owners – the people of Boone County – the hospital has grown along with the community. Over the century, as Boone County grew from 29,000 to 180,000 residents, Boone County Hospital grew from 37 beds to our current 392. With each expansion, the hospital has upheld the promise made by Dr. Nifong and his colleagues.

1921: Boone County Hospital Opens

On December 10, 1921, a crowd lined the corridors and stairway of the new Boone County Hospital to watch the opening ceremony and tour the three-story building. The 37-bed hospital featured an X-ray department and surgery suite with bay windows. The campus included a chicken yard for registered nurse Eleanor Keely, the hospital superintendent, who lived in the neighboring Tandy House. The staff included five other employees – an engineer, housekeeper, cook and two interns. With the trustees’ permission, a neighbor’s cow grazed on the hospital grounds.

While the original building has undergone multiple renovations, it remains part of Boone Hospital. Details from the original facade are still visible on the north end.

1950s: Major Expansion

After enduring the challenges of the Great Depression and World War II, Columbia saw more prosperous times, which put new pressures on Boone County Hospital. The post-war baby boom increased demand for obstetric services. From 1940 to 1950, the county population grew by 38%, as university attendance and employment rose. The construction of highways 70 and 63 made the hospital more accessible, especially to people outside Columbia. More cars also meant increased parking demands and more patients with injuries from collisions. The small county hospital was frequently forced to turn patients away or place beds wherever space was available, including hallways. After Parker Memorial closed, the demand for local hospital-based care was critical.

On July 11, 1954, Boone County Hospital doubled in size with the opening of the Memorial Wing. After county voters rejected a bond issue to expand the hospital, Dr. Nifong and his wife funded the wing’s construction, assisted by a public drive led by hospital administrator Bertha Hochuli and the Women’s Auxiliary. The three-floor addition housed 45 beds, increasing the total to 82.

The dedication took place on a hot summer afternoon and featured a concert by the Centralia High School Band, a flag ceremony by the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, and remarks by Dr. Nifong. Now 90 years old, he told the crowd that he believed Columbia would become a major medical center by the 1980s.

Within a year of the Memorial Wing opening, Dr. Nifong passed away. The new building was renamed the Nifong Wing in his honor.

A few years later, a bond supporting a $3 million expansion was passed, funding construction of what is now the hospital’s North Tower. This addition increased the hospital’s capacity to 257 beds and made room for expanded services and advanced medical technology, including new diagnostic imaging equipment and a cobalt therapy machine used for cancer treatments. To support expanded inpatient care, an updated kitchen and housekeeping area were built.

The new wing was introduced to the community with an open house on November 29, 1959. Local contractors who worked on the building ran ads in the Columbia Daily Tribune congratulating Boone County Hospital on its significant expansion.

1970s:

In its first year, Boone County Hospital admitted 600 patients. Fifty years later, that many patients were admitted weekly as the county hospital transformed into a regional referral center. Between 1960 and 1970, the county grew from 55,000 to 80,000 people. Crowding remained a problem, forcing the hospital to repurpose visitor areas as patient care areas.

Despite economic challenges facing the nation and region in the ‘70s, Boone County expanded its facilities in two stages. The hospital board held a groundbreaking in 1972 for the first stage of a plan to add space for inpatients and hospital services.

On January 4, 1974, Boone nurses helped 37 patients move into the completed wing, now called the Central Tower. The move, led by assistant nursing director Bev Palmatary, went smoothly. The new units, described by the Tribune as having “the comfort of an expensive hotel,” increased the hospital’s bed count to 317.

The second stage of construction added two floors to the Central Tower and updated the Emergency Room. Radiology and Laboratory services were expanded, the cafeteria and dining room were renovated, and storage and supply areas were added. The hospital’s lobby and admissions area were redesigned. The public was invited to see the renovations at an open house in early January 1976.

1980s: Boone Hospital Center

By 1980, Boone County Hospital easily saw a thousand patients each month. Advances in surgical techniques allowed patients to go home the same day after some procedures. The hospital’s cardiac surgery program brought in more patients and increased demand for procedural areas and operating rooms. Parking was again in short supply. New patients and services generated more medical records, requiring more space for staff and storage.

In 1981, the newly renamed Boone Hospital Center celebrated its 60th anniversary with the dedication of its new building. Parking was expanded with a new garage on Ann Street. A new annex housed the Medical Records department. Respiratory Therapy could now store more oxygen supplies. Emergency care was enhanced with the addition of a heliport. The surgical unit tripled its floor space with an expanded surgical ICU and five additional operating rooms. The Radiology department also tripled in size and brought in new radiation therapy equipment. Following changing trends in obstetric care, Labor and Delivery added birthing suites where new mothers could give birth, recover with their baby, and receive visitors. Separate entrances were built for patients and staff, and a new lobby and admissions area offered patients more comfort and privacy.

The open house and dedication on November 8, 1981 presented Kathy Montie’s 22-foot-tall aluminum sculpture of the hospital’s “spoonheads” logo, located at the patient entrance. Among the speakers at the event was David Etheridge, the first baby born at Boone County Hospital in December 1921.

1990s and 2000s: Expanding Outpatient Care

At the turn of the 20th century, Boone Hospital Center addressed the growing need for primary care and outpatient services. Broadway Medical Plaza gave referring physicians the opportunity to locate their clinics closer to the hospital. A pedestrian bridge spanning Broadway made it easy to send patients across the street for testing.

On May 24, 2006, Boone cut the ribbon on the Center for Advanced Medicine, also called the CAM, an 80,000-square-foot addition designed to make outpatient care more convenient. Located on the south end of the hospital, the wing added a separate entrance and admissions area for patients receiving outpatient testing and procedures, including mammograms at the new Harris Breast Center.

Now called the Outpatient Tower, the CAM became home to outpatient surgery, GI lab, and the cardiac cath lab. Spacious waiting areas made it easy for visitors to stay updated on loved ones and take them home after procedures. Distribution and Central Services moved into new spaces designed to streamline tracking, sterilizing, and delivering supplies to procedural areas.

The CAM reflected new approaches to hospital design. Local, nature-themed art was displayed throughout the building. Waiting areas were designed to be inviting, well-lit and comfortable. This approach influenced the next phase of Boone Hospital’s growth.

2010s: A Healing Environment

Since 1921, knowledge about infectious disease had significantly increased, including the prevention of hospital-acquired infections. Infectious disease specialists on Boone’s medical staff recommended a shift to private rooms. Research showed that not only did patients who stayed in private rooms have shorter stays, fewer hospital-acquired infections, fewer complications and fewer readmissions, the costs hospitals saved as a result offset the expense of giving each patient a private room. Private rooms also provided a more restful healing environment.

The new patient tower reflected the latest in evidence-based practice. 128 private rooms, including 44 in the new Intensive Care Unit, were designed with patients in mind. Bathrooms were more accessible. Convertible sofas allowed visitors to stay overnight. Large windows maximized natural light. Soft colors, warm lighting and nature-inspired art provided a soothing atmosphere. Angled doorways and decentralized nursing stations made it easier to observe patients.

In 2011, Director of Support Services Myrl Frevert said, “At every decision point, we asked ‘What’s the right thing for the patient? As it’s coming into reality, I know we’re doing the best thing for our patients. This is a true healing environment.”

Boone also wanted its new patient tower to protect the environment. Designated as the first LEED Gold hospital facility in the area, the tower made extensive use of recycled and local materials. A rain harvesting tank collected water used to irrigate the campus landscaping. Low-flow toilets, a rooftop solar panel, and room sensors helped the hospital conserve water and electricity.

Now known as the North Tower, the building had seven floors, plus a ground-level floor for an updated Laboratory. Two unfinished floors left room for expansion, including the Stewart Cancer Center, which opened in 2014.

The tower included a new main entrance and registration desk, a renovated lobby with a gift shop and café, and a healing garden funded by donations to the Boone Hospital Foundation. A new conference center made it easier to host events at the hospital, including the annual Heart Fair. A pedestrian bridge connected the new building to the William Street garage, which opened in 2009.

In the Boone tradition, the new patient tower held an open house event on June 12, 2011, the year of the hospital’s 90th anniversary, with tours, refreshments, live music, a “History of Healing” video, and free health screenings. Banners along Broadway reminded the community, “This is your patient tower.”

Older units were later renovated for private rooms. Nearly a decade later, these private rooms would prove invaluable during the Coronavirus pandemic, making it easier to reduce the risk of spreading the virus to patients without COVID.

While Dr. Frank Nifong and his peers could only imagine what medicine would be like in 100 years, they accurately predicted the need and potential for a county hospital. In the 1950s, Dr. Nifong wrote, “The development of hospitals during my time has gone forward as rapidly as the science of medicine… The Boone County Hospital with which I have been associated for a quarter of a century has accomplished much, pointing a way for a better hospital service for rural communities.”

No doubt the good doctor would be proud of how much the hospital he helped build has grown.