Boone Hospital Chief Medical Officer Announces Retirement

Dr. Robin Blount, chief medical officer for Boone Health, has announced her intent to retire, effective January 2025. Dr. Blount has been with Boone Health for 38 years, initially practicing internal medicine in private practice at Boone Clinic in Columbia starting in 1987.

“I am grateful to have been able to provide care to this community for so many years and to have been associated with such an incredible group of physicians and the people who provide care at Boone Health,” she said. “My 38 years with Boone Health and, to have the trust of this community for so long, is truly a gift and an honor.”

Dr. Blount moved to Columbia with her family in 1964 and graduated from the University of Missouri with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1979 and from the School of Medicine in 1983. Following additional training in an infectious disease fellowship at MU, Dr. Blount entered private practice at Boone Clinic in Columbia in 1987. In 2015, she was named Boone Hospital’s chief medical officer.

“Dr. Blount has been instrumental in guiding Boone Hospital’s medical staff for the past decade,” said Brady Dubois, president and CEO of Boone Health. “We will remain indebted to her commitment to ensuring Boone Hospital met the highest of standards in quality and patient care, including achieving multiple 5-star designations from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services over the last several years. She has a significant amount of respect among her colleagues and will be missed. We wish her the best in her well-deserved retirement.”

Dr. Blount helped lead the hospital and its medical staff through two electronic medical records transitions, the hospital’s transition to independent status, and the challenge of the COVID pandemic. During Dr. Blount’s tenure as CMO, Boone Hospital achieved 5-star ratings from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services five times since 2016 when the ratings were first introduced. In 2024, Boone Hospital also was named a top 100 hospital in the nation by Healthgrades. Currently, Boone Hospital is the only hospital in the mid-Missouri region to achieve these two ratings.

In addition to her service at Boone Health, Dr. Blount has served on the Board of Governors for the MU School of Medicine, and in 2020 was recognized by the Boone County Medical Society as the Distinguished Physician of the Year for work and leadership during the COVID pandemic.

During her work in private practice, Dr. Blount held multiple leadership positions at both Boone Hospital and the former Columbia Regional Hospital, including chair of the Infection Prevention committees and a member of the Medical Executive committees. She also served as chief of medicine and secretary treasurer of the medical staff at Boone Hospital.

Dr. Blount has also remained active in the community, serving as the physician champion for the Heart of Missouri United Way, serving as the “physician at large” on the Missouri Hospital Association Board of Governors and leading the Missouri Hospital Association Physician Executive Group.

A national search will begin for Dr. Blount’s replacement.