Finances a top concern for Boone Hospital Center trustee candidates

The financial standing and quality of medical care are on the minds of two candidates vying for a seat on the Boone Hospital Center’s Board of Trustees.

Incumbent Fred Parry, a publisher and talk-show host on KFRU/1400 AM, and Keith Schnarre, a former Boone County presiding commissioner and Centralia area farmer, are running for a five-year term on the hospital board.

Brian Neuner, director of business management at AFLAC, is running unopposed for a one-year term. Keeping the hospital at the forefront of medical care is also in the forefront of Neuner’s platform.

Parry, 44, wants to create a financial plan to reduce hospital debt; Schnarre, 62, also has made the hospital’s financial standing a key plank. Both candidates have also made quality health care at Boone Hospital a focus of their campaigns.
There are five seats on the hospital board. Trustees maintain and develop the hospital property, which is owned by the Boone County government, through the $7 million to $8 million in annual lease payments from BJC HealthCare for operating the hospital.

Neuner was appointed by the Boone County Commission after Llona Weiss was unable to complete her term in 2007. In order for Neuner to run for a five-year term next April, he must complete two one-year terms.
The other current trustees are Barbara Weaver, a retired nurse who’s been on the board since 1981; Robert McDavid, a retired obstetrician on the board since 1997; and H.J. Murrell, a retired oncologist who’s served since 2000.

MARYLIN SIMPSON | news@columbiamissourian.com