From the media release from the N.C. Justice Center:
Statement from the NC Justice Center, Action NC, NC AFL-CIO, Charlotte NAACP, The Black Women’s Caucus and Jesus Ministry Inc.: Carolinas HealthCare System has lost sight of its mission
In its recent investigation called Prognosis: Profits, the Charlotte Observer revealed that Carolinas HealthCare System has lost sight of its mission. While reaping large profits, paying executives millions, and socking away billions in reserves, Carolinas sues patients like Vietnam Veteran Cleveland Davis and attaches liens to the homes of people like Joyce Jones. In fact, the Observer reports that Carolinas has filed more than 12,000 lawsuits over the past five years. This is unacceptable.
As organizations that represent low-income and working families, we call on Carolinas HealthCare to cease the practice of suing patients and we demand that it release all of the liens it holds on the primary residences of patients and former patients. As a nonprofit system that receives hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer support, Carolinas should stop destabilizing the community by imposing great financial hardship on some of the state’s most vulnerable people. We recognize that Carolinas provides benefits to Charlotte and surrounding areas by furnishing charity care and contributing to local health clinics. We do not think these good deeds justify the hospital system’s many egregious practices.
Carolinas HealthCare has a proud history and possesses the potential to live up to its mission. All it needs now is leadership and a commitment to the community.
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