BOONVILLE − The opening of MU Health Care’s new Boonville clinic saves some stress in the commute for one mid-Missouri couple.
Earl Mangels went for his physical therapy appointment at the new clinic Monday. He and his wife, Patty, scheduled the appointment months ago for the opening. They live in Bunceton, about a 20-minute drive from the clinic.
The building, located at 516 Jackson Road, is 14,000 square feet and has an urgent care with extended hours, primary care, imaging to include a CT scanner, lab and therapy services.
The Jackson Road Medical Building, located at 516 Jackson Road, Boonville.
Though Boonville did have physical therapy services before, the Mangels said having the clinic closer for blood draws and urgent care services is tremendously helpful.
“If you have an emergency, it’s here, you don’t have to worry about calling an ambulance because it’s here … and that’s expensive [ambulances], so that’s the way I look at it,” Earl Mangels said.
MU Health Care collaborated with Boonville and Cooper County leaders to find more options for extra health services in the area after the Pinnacle Regional Hospital closed in 2020.
The Mangels said having more emergency services nearby will help close some of the gap left behind.
“It’s a load off everyone’s back around here,” Earl Mangels said. “To have a place to go without driving 40 miles to get there, that’s the thing. It [could be] a life or death situation.”
Patty Mangels said she’s waiting for more specialty services for the area to keep filling the gaps left from the closed hospital.
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“It would be nice to see a cardiologist, a specialist pediatrician coming in, orthopedic, because we’ve had that in the past and it would be nice to have that again,” Patty Mengels said.
MU Health Care said those specialty options are in the works.
“We have a lot of specialists who are very interested in coming over and having clinics here, so hopefully as the year goes on we’ll get those established and that will be great,” Dr. Mona Brownfield, a physician and medical director at the Boonville clinic, said. “Helping people not having to go to Columbia to see their specialist will be very important.”
Brownfield said the clinic has talked to many specialists at the university in nephrology, cardiology and orthopedics.
The Boonville clinic expands on MU Health Care clinics throughout mid-Missouri. The company has clinics in Fayette, Ashland, Fulton and Mexico.
Brownfield said MU Health Care’s expanding helps serve smaller communities more efficiently.
“When our hospital closed and it became really hard to get health care, they [patients] put off a lot of their health care needs, and I think a lot of people in rural communities tend to do that because it’s just too hard to get to Columbia to take care of those things,” Brownfield said. “I think all the local and rural outreach clinics that the university is providing will really help people in their long-term health care goals, and as far as preventive goals in keeping them healthier.”
Patients wishing to schedule an appointment with the MU Health Care Family Medicine Clinic in Boonville should call 660-882-3585. Urgent care in Boonville will be open from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. seven days a week to serve patients on a walk-in basis.
Additional information about the services offered at the Jackson Road Medical Building are found on the MU Health Care website.