All the news about Mission has a hopelessness about it. Even the good news, like its doctors voting not to sign a complete surrender to speaking out against HCA, is tinged with despair. What can we do as a community?
My idea is to sue to reclaim the name “Mission Hospital.” Today’s hospital complex is not the Mission Hospital I came to know when I first moved here in 2003. Let HCA use its own name, not ours.
Mission Hospital is our community hospital; HCA is not. Is it possible to sue to reclaim the name? Did the backroom purchase of the hospital system include its specific name?
I would love it if HCA had to surrender “Mission Hospital” and change all its signage to “HCA.” Does anyone know how to make this happen? If so, you have my support.
— Mark H. Bloom
Asheville
In short, even if the community had the exorbitant amount of money it would take to tempt them, HCA will never part with its second highest grossing hospital in the nation. We made this monster and now have to live with the consequences.
State Attorney General Josh Stein approved the deal. Let’s not forget he’s running for Governor of NC now. If you approve of the HCA deal give him your support. If not?
Let’s all remember that HCA was founded by the family of former Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.
Stein was limited in what he could do give the way the law is written.
There is a proposed law in the legislature to make it more difficult for this type of thing to happen to other hospitals in the state, but don’t hold your breath that the Republican legislature will ever approve it.
By statute, Stein’s authority only extended to the conditions delineated in the asset agreement, not any measures for quality of care. The seller agreed. The buyer agreed. The AG doesn’t possess the power to intervene unless and until the terms of the agreement were violated. That’s where we now stand. Good for Stein for jumping on the matter when he legally had the authority.
I mean no offense to the writer, Mr. Bloom. But it’s fairly easy to find the answer to this question rather than writing a letter to the editor with your opinion on the matter. Instead of making comments about the “backdoor deal,” you can at least find the entirety of the Asset Purchase Agreement published online. The APA Section 7.10 explicitly states, upon closing, that the buyer will continue to use “Mission Health” or “Mission Health System” in all naming and branding unless required by law to change. So I hate to tell you, Mr. Bloom, but your beloved Mission name is no longer “yours” to claim. How about focusing your time and efforts on something else in the community that would be more beneficial than disparaging the local hospital and all the hard workers who are inside it? Happy Holidays.
“Historically and today, a core role of the states in antitrust enforcement has been to stop harmful mergers. Under state and federal antitrust laws, state attorneys general can sue to block a merger if they believe it will undermine competition to the detriment of producers, workers, or consumers. Over the past 40 years, they’ve done so — sometimes alongside the federal antitrust agencies, and sometimes on their own. While some state-level merger challenges have entailed broad, multi-state coalitions, most involve one or two state attorneys general stepping in to protect competition”.
Get real…. it’s a Tennessee based MAGA hospital that absolutely epitomizes predatory capitalism and the arms race know as “healthcare” here in the US… period… end of subject. Mission was a fine hospital squandered by the arrogance and hubris of a dozen plus entitled Ashevilleians who were so mesmerized by their precious trophy board seats …and so easily led to the altar of this fraudulent sale by the Mission CEO who was in cahoots with HCA from the get go. Anyone who has a modicum of common sense left will avoid the HCA MAGA hospital that Asheville is yoked to like the plague. Sorry to be so blunt ….seems a bit necessary though. sigh.
Sigh
So you’re making a case as to why NC Attorney Josh Stein should have sued to prevent our local hospital from being absorbed by a for profit business.
The AG doesn’t have approve a sale but can sue to prevent a sale monopolizing a customer base.
SIgh
” . . . a dozen plus entitled Ashevilleians . . .”
Could you give us their names, please.
Prior to the sale of Mission Hospital, excellent medical service was the standard. After the sale,
there were fewer nurses, medical personnel and emergency workers to handle the
influx of patients. We can assume that the lack of needed hospital employees is due to the profit
motive of HCA. Recently, it has been pointed out that emergency services at Mission Hospital
are curtailed to the point that admittance into Emergency Services can take hours,
impacting ambulance availability to the public. How can we restore Mission Hospital’s
former quality of service?