Press release
From Mission Health
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (Aug. 29, 2012) – Mission Health’s application for a Certificate of Need (CON) for an endoscopy suite at the Mission Pardee Health Campus in Fletcher, N.C. was declined today following a 5 month application process.
At present, Mission Health has no further information as to “why” the application was denied.
“Although disappointed in the decision, we look forward to reviewing the stated reasons for denying transfer of our own CON, within our own county, closer and more convenient to the patients receiving those services today,” said Rowena Buffett Timms, Senior Vice President of Government and Community Relations at Mission Health. “Despite this bump in the road, we have no doubt that endoscopy services, which are needed and desired by the community, will ultimately be available at the site. Our regional colon cancer screening rates are far below our community’s needs, and sadly, we know that lives are lost each and every year that could be prevented by more aggressive screening, close to home.”
“That said, we are very excited about the joint project with Pardee Hospital, which is now underway,” Ms. Timms continued. “In partnership together, we will be offering a range of services at that site, including but not limited to primary and specialty physician offices, urgent care, laboratory and imaging services, physical therapy, and general health and wellness services. At Mission Health, our commitment to our community is measured in decades and centuries, not months or years. We have and will remain relentless in our pursuit of our BIG(GER) AIM: getting each patient to the desired outcome, without harm, without waste and with an exceptional experience.”
About Mission Health
Mission Health, based in Asheville, N.C., is the state’s sixth-largest health system and the region’s only not-for-profit, independent community hospital system governed and managed exclusively in western North Carolina. In 2012 Mission Health was named one of the nation’s Top 15 Health Systems by Thomson Reuters – the only health system in North Carolina to receive this recognition.
Mission Health, which traces its roots in the region back to 1885, operates five hospitals, numerous outpatient and surgery centers, and the region’s only dedicated Level II trauma center. Its medical staff consists of more than 1,000 physicians and is certified in over 50 medical specialties and sub-specialties. Mission Health has seven Centers of Excellence: Cancer, Heart, Mission Children’s Hospital, Neurosciences, Orthopedics, Trauma and Women’s Health. Mission Hospital, located in Asheville, is the system’s flagship hospital and is licensed for 730 beds. It is the regional referral center for tertiary and quaternary care and is the busiest surgical hospital in North Carolina. It also includes Mission Children’s Hospital– the region’s only children’s hospital. Other Mission Health member hospitals include Angel Medical Center in Franklin, Blue Ridge Regional Hospital in Spruce Pine, McDowell Hospital in Marion and Transylvania Regional Hospital in Brevard. With approximately 8,800 employees and 700 volunteers, Mission Health is dedicated to improving the health and wellness of the people of western North Carolina.
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