To the editor:

In 1994 I led the site selection team that determined where in Kansas the Cessna Aircraft Company would spend $40 million building a new facility in Kansas to manufacture single engine airplanes

We considered requirements that had to be met and other important factors. Requirements included a sufficient labor pool and access to an airport. Other factors included the community’s quality of life, including medical facilities. We visited and analyzed 16 cities and eventually selected Independence in southeast Kansas.

The Cessna decision changed Independence and southeast Kansas. The multi-million dollar facility was opened in 1996. Today, the Independence facility employs over 550 people who enjoy good earnings and full benefits. Several suppliers have also located there.

In 1994 when we selected Independence it had Mercy Hospital, a full service medical facility. In 2015, years before COVID adversely affected communities and economies, Mercy Hospital was closed. Not having revenues Medicaid would have provided was cited as a cause for closing Mercy.

If Independence had not had Mercy Hospital in 1994 Cessna would not have selected it. The Kansas Hospital Association states half of the rural hospitals in Kansas are in danger of closing. Expanding Medicaid can provide the revenues that can help prevent rural hospital closures. To enable rural Kansas cities to possibly attract good employers to them the legislature must join the 40 other states that have already expanded Medicaid. No company has selected a Kansas location that does not have full medical services for a new facility.

John E. Moore,

Lawrence