Asheville and Buncombe County filed a class-action lawsuit against HCA Healthcare and Mission Health on July 27 in U.S. District Court. The lawsuit alleges HCA is attempting to monopolize health care in Western North Carolina. “The Asheville City Council and the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners felt it was necessary to take this step to […]
North Carolina has 53 cases of monkeypox as of July 29, according to a dashboard on the NCDHHS website. There have been no reported deaths from monkeypox in the U.S.
Representatives from the city and county recognize their respective spending must be intentional in focus and coordinated with each other’s work.
Buncombe County is one of the 91 counties the Office of Rural Health has designated as experiencing a behavioral health professional shortage. In fact, the 2022 departmental map designates all 16 counties of Western North Carolina as experiencing a shortage.
Safelight, a Hendersonville nonprofit that supports survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new facility June 29.
From dentist offices to chemotherapy units, health care facilities have long embraced the use of therapy dogs. Airports are starting to see how their guests might also benefit from these pooches.
Asheville can feel as if dogs have the run of the place. They are seemingly in every brewery and restaurant and on every trail. Nearly all of these animals are pets that might occasionally earn their keep by barking at a black bear in the trash or chasing a gopher from the tomato patch. But […]
Veterans Healing Farm helps vets through agritherapy while ABCCM’s culinary courses place graduates in prestigious kitchens.
Even at 8 a.m., June 2 was blazing hot outside Mission Hospital. Few trees lent little shade at the entrance to the complex. But the registered nurses who gathered that morning for a rally with National Nurses United are used to being on their feet for long periods of time in uncomfortable conditions. About 50 […]
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted more people to focus on their health, and the city’s many natural products stores rose to the occasion.
On Monday, June 20, historian and educator Kelly Dunbar and doula Cindy McMillan will present African American Women’s Midwifery and Doula Work in Buncombe County: Then and Now.
As of this April, 26 states and the District of Columbia had granted nurse practitioners full practice authority — the ability to diagnose and treat patients without physician supervision — according to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. And if the N.C. General Assembly passes the SAVE Act, North Carolina will join that list. The bill, reintroduced in March 2021, is currently in committee and has bipartisan support.
Brevard officials hope other Western North Carolina local governments will join the city’s lawsuit alleging monopolistic practices by HCA Healthcare. None have, but none say they have ruled it out.
Three hospitals plan to file applications to build a new 67-bed hospital in Western North Carolina.
A letter drafted by Chair Brownie Newman and scheduled for a June 7 vote of approval by the full Board of Commissioners urges state regulators to favor nonprofit health care systems over HCA Healthcare, which owns Mission, when considering applications to build new hospital capacity.
Supporters of medical marijuana and the local hemp industry want to see the state allow the use of cannabis as a treatment option for debilitating medical conditions. But there are disagreements with Senate Bill 711 as written.
A new health center opened May 2 to reach adolescents in need of health care right where they are: in school. Asheville Middle School’s school-based health center, or SBHC, is a medical office located on campus and open during school hours. It is staffed by a physician assistant part-time and a full-time registered nurse; a […]
Western North Carolina Community Health Services, a federally qualified community health center in Asheville, opened a new branch in Candler on Wednesday, May 4. The Hominy Valley Health Center is on the same site as the Hominy Valley Crisis Center, 1914 Smokey Park Highway.
For the uninsured and underinsured, local mental health nonprofits are filling the gap, but they struggle with funding.
The Center for Native Health, a nonprofit focused on culturally competent health care among the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the UNC Asheville-UNC Gillings Masters of Public Health Program announced the partnership April 21.
The Healthy Opportunities Pilot is focusing on food insecurity during its first phase.
