Affiliated Monitors, the independent monitor in charge of overseeing HCA Healthcare’s compliance with its purchase agreement of the Asheville-based Mission Health system, plans six public meetings throughout Western North Carolina in June, according to a May 28 press release.
During the meetings, Affiliated Monitors will introduce its team, explain its role and update the community about what it has done so far, as well as review HCA’s remaining commitments under the agreement, according to the joint press release with Affiliated Monitors and Dogwood Health Trust.
Attendees can also ask questions and share information with the monitor in the meetings. The independent monitor’s job is to make sure HCA Healthcare complies with stipulations the company agreed to when the state approved its acquisition of the Mission Health System in 2019.
Dogwood Health Trust is a private foundation established to receive the proceeds from the sale of formerly nonprofit Mission Health to for-profit HCA.
As the “seller representative,” Dogwood chooses the monitor to advise them in making sure HCA complies with the purchase agreement, Dogwood CEO Dr. Susan Mims said in an email to Carolina Public Press.
The agreement covers conditions that must be met over 10 years, “and a number have already been satisfied during the first five years of the agreement,” Mims said.
N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein sued HCA Healthcare in late 2023 over allegations the hospital company is not providing the agreed-upon levels of emergency and cancer care.
Dogwood chose Boston-based Affiliated Monitors as the new monitor beginning April 1. The previous monitor was Gibbins Advisers.
The monitor team will focus on “HCA’s annual report evaluation, community engagement and education, engagement with the AGO, and continuous compliance evaluation and other activities,” according to Dogwood.
Dogwood also revised the monitor’s scope of work to include more community engagement and education, as well as engagement with the attorney general’s office, Mims told CPP.
No changes were made to the monitor’s role as outlined in the asset purchase agreement, Mims said. Dogwood decided to increase the monitor’s responsibilities in the scope of work after listening to community members and working with the attorney general’s office, she said.
The monitor team visited the Dogwood offices and is learning about the history of health care in the region and Mission Health, Affiliated Monitors told CPP in an email.
The team also started reviewing HCA’s annual report, which it submitted April 30, according to the monitor.
Community members’ expectations of Affiliated Monitors
The increased focus on public engagement is a good sign, said state Sen. Julie Mayfield, D-Buncombe.
“The more (Dogwood) can hear from people about what’s actually happening as opposed to the sanitized version from HCA, the better,” she said.
Mayfield said some community members may think Affiliated Monitors has independent autonomy to hold HCA Healthcare accountable, but the team answers to Dogwood and can only do what Dogwood empowers them to do.
Dogwood’s job is to enforce the asset purchase agreement, and since that agreement doesn’t mention anything about quality of care, Affiliated Monitors’ “hands are a little tied” in that regard, she said.
Mayfield also suggested the monitor team meet with community members in nontraditional formats outside of the meetings, such as at a coffee shop for an afternoon.
If Affiliated Monitors is still under the same constraints as the previous independent monitor, not much will change, said Michael Messino, a retired physician who founded Messino Cancer Centers and is now part of a coalition of advocates and elected officials following developments at Mission Hospital.
He won’t know whether the monitor’s impact will be different this time until the meetings begin, Messino said.
Asked how Affiliated Monitors will address quality of care, Mims said part of its role is to monitor HCA’s participation with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and quality of care factors into that.
Meetings information
The updated website and registration for the community meetings will be available June 3, according to Dogwood.
Those who plan to attend must pre-register on the website and may submit questions in advance, Dogwood said, and virtual viewing will also be available. Answers will be prioritized based on the relevance to the facility associated with each meeting, according to the foundation.
Doors open 30 minutes prior to the meeting, Dogwood said. Locations, dates and times of meetings are below:
McDowell County Meeting: Mission Hospital McDowell
Monday, June 10 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Marion Community Building, 191 N Main St, Marion, NC
Mitchell/Yancey Counties Meeting: Blue Ridge Regional Hospital
Tuesday, June 11 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Cross Street Commerce Center, 31 Cross St #215, Spruce Pine, NC
Buncombe County Meeting: Mission Hospital
Wednesday, June 12 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Ferguson Auditorium at A-B Tech, Fernihurst Dr, Asheville, NC
Transylvania County Meeting: Transylvania Regional Hospital
Monday, June 17 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Transylvania County Library, 212 Gaston St. Brevard, NC
Highlands/Cashiers Meeting: Highlands-Cashiers Hospital
Tuesday, June 18 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Final location coming soon.
Macon County Meeting: Angel Medical Center
Thursday, June 20 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Robert C. Carpenter Room, Macon County Community Facilities Building
1288 Georgia Rd, Franklin, NC
This article first appeared on Carolina Public Press and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Uh oh. This is going to be another one of those “Let ‘em vent. Then we’ll assign decisions to yet another committee, and then delay sufficiently to cause detractors to give up……and then we win again!” Smoke and mirrors, kids. Get a responsible, competent non- profit instead of Mission “Hospital.” They’ve garnered enough lack of confidence from the public to never be profitable enough to fill greed’s pockets. Take the hint, HCA. Move on.