Thanks to a more than $500,000 grant made available through the Affordable Care Act, the Hendersonville-based Blue Ridge Community Health Services will be able to provide health care services at a new clinic in Brevard, N.C. starting in October. (Photo courtesy of Blue Ridge Community Health Services)
At 8 a.m. on Monday morning, Mission Health’s new imaging center, Mission Children’s Radiology, opened its doors and began seeing patients. According to Dr. Bret Sleight of Asheville Radiology and Mission Children’s Radiology, the approximately 6,000 square-feet center has been quietly in the works for the last 4-5 years. (photo by Caitlin Byrd)
A central question for President Barack Obama’s health care reform law will be answered later this month. Namely, will the U.S. Supreme Court strike down the Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional? If “Obamacare” stands, North Carolina will have other unknowns to contend with. Specifically, where will the state come up with the hundreds of millions […]
Six Asheville Tourists baseball players and Ted E. Tourist took a break from the diamond to visit kids at Mission Children’s Hospital on May 29. They played board games, built Lego houses and, of course, played a modified game of catch. (Photos by Caitlin Byrd)
While Sarah Kucharski focused on a looming deadline as special projects editor for Waynesville’s Smoky Mountain News, a blood clot in her brain stem was about to change her life forever.
Only 28, she was experiencing a stroke — but it would take weeks to find that out. (Photo by Caitlin Byrd)
More than 300 participated in Asheville’s first Walk For Lupus Now event. Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease disease that causes inflamation. This inflammation can damage major organs like the heart, lungs, kidneys, skin and the brain. In North Carolina alone, the disease affects about 45,000 people.
Less than one year after the state rejected their first request to relocate an endoscopy center from Asheville to Fletcher, Mission Health and Pardee Hospital are trying again. But during an almost 3-hour long public hearing held in Mills River today, not everyone understood why these health systems are applying again, or what has changed. More than 100 people attended the meeting, and about 50 people spoke during the public comment. (photo by Caitlin Byrd)
As Asheville’s rates of hunger increase, local agencies are trying to keep pace. Standing in MANNA FoodBank’s warehouse holding a small bag of groceries, Beth Stahl, the nonprofit’s youth program coordinator, reflects on the value of food to the many Buncombe County children facing crippling hunger. “It’s kind of scary that this little bag of […]
A handwritten thank-you note dangles on the wall of the Charlotte Street office where Chelsea Kouns spends most of her time. When the 27-year-old isn’t clocking in at her two part-time jobs, she’s there working for free on her labor of love: Start From Seed, an Asheville nonprofit organization that provides free birth and postpartum […]
Though she spends most of her time helping others at Mission and McDowell Hospitals, a local therapy dog may have her day soon. Chessie, a blind four-year-old Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen, has been nominated for a 2012 American Humane Association Hero Dog Award in the therapy dog category.
Sharon West reads from one of many case studies about health disparities and race in the United States. On Friday, April 27, she gave a presentation about health disparities as it related to race. The event was part of YWCA’s Stand Against Racism. (Photo by Caitlin Byrd)
Around 500 people gathered in front of the courthouse Saturday for Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, an event to raise awareness about sexual assault.
Due to federal budget cuts and a consistent demand for its services, the Western North Carolina AIDS Project will have a full plate this year, according to its executive director, Jeff Bachar. And Bachar wants to see community members with full plates of their own during this year's Dining Out for Life fundraiser on Thursday, […]
It’s that time again: Thursday, April 26 is Dining Out for Life. Throughout the day, more than 100 area restaurants will donate 20 percent of their gross sales to WNCAP, a public-health nonprofit that provides free HIV-related services in 18 WNC counties. (Photo courtesy of Dining Out for Life)
Earlier today, the N.C. House Select Committee on CON and other Hospital Related Issues announced that they are not recommending any changes to Mission Health’s Certificate of Public Advantage at this time. The WNC Community Healthcare Initiative has released a statement on this decision.
Today at 10 a.m., two major local issues will be discussed in Raleigh: the fate of the Asheville Water System and whether Mission Hospital will continue to operate under the only Certificate of Public Advantage in the state.
During the April 19 meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners heard a presentation about the impact of adult care homes in Buncombe County. Currently, Buncombe County has more adult care homes than any other county in the state. These are the highlights from that presentation and other business conducted tonight.
Live Twitter coverage of tonight’s Buncombe County Commissioners meeting via Caitlin Byrd (@MaryCaitlinByrd). The meeting starts at 4:30 p.m. To appear in our Twitter feed, use the hashtag #avlgov.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners’ Tuesday, April 17, meeting will feature health-related presentations on recent county health rankings and the impact of adult care homes.
On April 12, Mission Health hosted a legislative briefing luncheon to discuss the implications of the recommendations made in regard to the Certificate of Public Advantage. On April 19, the state committee will make its final decision regarding whether or not it will approve all, some, or none of the five recommendations.
A little girl's handwritten description of her weekly visits to the food pantry with her mother underscores how community gardens can help feed the hungry in Western North Carolina. "She wrote: 'I really like going to the pantry, because I get to help my mom pick out the vegetables. I like picking out tomatoes,' and […]
