Month: February 2026

Gabrielle Teiner

Editor’s note: The total hours a day for the Rapid Care Path method was corrected after source error was noted.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Boone Health says it is making strides to reduce stressors for patients waiting in the emergency department.

In mid-October, Boone Health fully implemented a new method called the Rapid Care Path to get patients into and out of the emergency department quickly and efficiently, helping staff treat about 500 to 600 more patients each month.

“We’ve decreased our length of stay for discharge patients by about 20 minutes or about 11-10%,” said Boone Health Emergency Department Manager Nick Woods.

The average time a Missouri resident spends in an emergency department from arriving to leaving is 2 hours and 35 minutes, ranking the state 29the longest average wait time among states.

Boone Health sees around 100 patients per day in the Emergency Department. The department has 16 beds. Just last week, on Monday, the department saw more than 120 patients.

The changes have led to a drop from 3.7% of patients leaving without being seen to about 2%, said spokesman Christian Basi.

The Rapid Care Path method uses an area 24 hours a day, every day, for patients dealing with non-life-threatening conditions during busier times.

“It’s a huge win for us, our community, the hospital,” said Woods. “We still have some opportunities to help smooth things out, but overall it’s going well.”

Woods says the biggest noticeable difference with using the new care method is the reduction in the number of patients leaving before being seen or before treatment is completed.

Woods says the department has changed its staffing to help on the front end when patients are checking in, and providers have even increased their staffing numbers to help handle the volume of patients.

“We put a clinical person as the first point of contact for patients checking in, so I think that’s helpful,” said Woods. “And just seeing the provider that much sooner, so people feel like there’s someone quickly seeing them for the concerns they’re having.”

Boone Health’s 2026 budget allowed the department to hire more people, which they are looking to continue.

Boone has also implemented safety measures for staff and patients, such as adding panic buttons and changing door opening devices.

Woods says hospital management is always looking at feedback from staff and patients to see where they can improve.

Since 2020, the number of patients seen in the emergency department has grown nearly 50%. In 2025, the department saw a total of 36,596 patients, compared to 24,445 patients seen in 2020.

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Haley Swaino

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Customer demand at the Columbia Regional Airport is expected to surge as American Airlines expands its flight schedule, United Airlines returns, and Allegiant Airlines adds new service.

The increasing number of passengers flying in and out of COU has sparked the need for additional parking. To address the issue, the city on Monday night unanimously passed an amendment to its fiscal 2026 budget to build a new 600-spot gravel lot south of the terminal near Angel Lane.

The proposal sought $400,000 from the transportation sales tax. Airport staff says increased parking is critical for accommodating growing ridership.

Longtime Columbia resident Patricia Carl lives right down the street from the airport. She said more parking would be beneficial.

“It just seems like the parking lot is full,” Carl said Monday. “I’ve never seen this many cars here.”

She believes many flyers find the free parking a perk.

“When I’m comparing my airfare in the parking as to which airport I’m going to use, that really gives Columbia [Regional] Airport an advantage,” Carl said.

But she said having more spaces available would be beneficial.

“We want people to know that we will be ready for all of the new flights beginning this year,” Airport Manager Mike Parks wrote in an email.

According to city documents, the southside parking lot would be an interim but necessary solution.

“This new lot will serve the immediate needs for parking and will also allow overflow parking as we continue expanding and paving lots closer to the terminal,” Parks wrote in an email.

Plans to pursue longer‑term, paved parking improvements are in the works, city documents say.

The southside lot would be about eight-tenths of a mile from the terminal. Parks said COU would shuttle parkers given how far away it is.

Monday night’s approval allows construction of the parking lot to begin this year. Parks said the airport hopes to get the lot done before more flights start in June.

The project would include erosion control measures, grading, base rock installation, compacted stone surfaces and upgraded entrances and exits.

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Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia is considering a 1% public safety sales tax to help close the multi-million dollar gap in its police and fire retirement fund and support improvements across both departments.

Public safety makes up nearly half of the city’s general fund spending for fiscal 2026, with about $66 million budgeted across police, fire and the municipal court. About a quarter of that fund is sales tax. Around $55 million of the public safety budget goes to employee salaries and benefits, leaving little room for other expenditures.

The city is already forecasting sales tax to come in on the lower end of its initial projection for FY 26 due to little to no growth from FY 25.

The city believes the 1% sales tax would bring in an additional $38 million for public safety departments by fiscal 2028. That money would go into a separate and dedicated account; public safety departments would also still receive about $60 million in general revenue funds.

Sales tax presentationDownload

City officials noted the most critical funding need is the retirement fund for Columbia police officers and firefighters. The police pension has a $66 million funding gap, while fire has a nearly $90 million funding gap for a total of around $156 million.

Columbia Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer explained this move by the city would also move the pension fund to the state pension system and decrease a lot of risk.

“The state system is exceptional, it has a lot of options and it’s very safe,” Schaeffer said. “Ours is very small and I wouldn’t say fragile, but it’s really connected to the market.”

He said being apart of the state pension program will also help recruitment efforts.

“With the new generations, they want the mobility, they want the ability to move across different agencies in a state system.” Schaeffer said. “The state pension system eliminates any barriers to be able to do that.”

Additional priorities include a new police facility and vehicles, the renovation of three fire stations and two new fire stations.

“We have critical needs that involve almost 50-year-old fire stations,” Schaeffer said. “Fire stations four, five and six.”

It will also help fund the fires of 50 new police officers and 40 firefighters over four years. Schaeffer said the extra personnel would make a more immediate impact on the community.

“By adding that fourth person on every company in the city that allows us to send less resources, fire trucks,” Schaeffer said. “A lot of times we have to send two or three fire trucks to get the eight people that we need, but if we had four on we would just send two.”

Columbia has the seventh highest sales tax rate out of the most populated cities in the state, sitting at 7.975%. The new tax would make it the fourth-highest sales tax rate at 8.975%.

The tax increase would have to be passed with a vote by Columbia residents. The City Council will discuss the proposal at its meeting Monday night.

If discussions go as hoped, the issue could be on the August ballot.

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