Three hospital systems — AdventHealth, HCA Healthcare/Mission Health and Novant Health — are jousting for the opportunity to build a facility in Western North Carolina. During an Aug. 12 public hearing at A-B Tech, members of the public got to voice their opinions on who should provide the area’s newest hospital beds. Buncombe, Graham, Madison […]
Three hospitals plan to file applications to build a new 67-bed hospital in Western North Carolina.
Hospitals suspend COVID-19 vaccination requirements Earlier this month, AdventHealth Hendersonville, Pardee UNC Health Care and Mission Health suspended requirements that employees become fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as per a federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services memorandum. CMS had issued an emergency regulation on Nov. 4 mandating that all eligible workers at Medicaid and Medicare-certified […]
Buncombe County’s new Community Paramedic and Post Overdose response team has connected 195 people who had experienced heroin and fentanyl overdoses with peer support resources. Plus, other WNC health happenings, awards and updates.
Xpress reached out to learn about the concerns of health care workers who are choosing to avoid or delay taking the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as the thoughts of those who enthusiastically or reluctantly received the shots.
Early data suggests monoclonal antibody therapies may reduce hospitalizations in people at high risk for severe COVID-19 complications by 70%. Limited supplies are now available in Western North Carolina.
Telehealth was already on the rise pre-pandemic, but COVID-19 has made it the new normal. Patients are ditching crowded waiting rooms en masse, opting to talk to providers from the privacy of their home.
“Our biggest problem right now is that millions of people want a shot, but we only have hundreds of thousands of doses,” said Gov. Roy Cooper at a Jan. 27 press conference. “There will be a time when everyone can get one, and we want to make sure everyone can access it as quickly as possible.”
Retired Rear Adm. Richard Houck of Transylvania County, attorney Fred Jones of Macon County and Bishop José McLoughlin of Henderson County will join the board of Western North Carolina’s largest nonprofit as Buncombe County’s Dr. John Ball departs. The change fulfills requirements stipulated in N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein’s approval of Mission Health’s sale to HCA Healthcare.
Anyone under the age of 40 who gathered with someone outside of their household over the Christmas holiday should act as if they became infected with COVID-19, members of the national task force said. Anyone over the age of 65 or with underlying health conditions should not enter any indoor setting with people who are not wearing masks.
Asheville residents may have hunkered down for the holidays under a blanket of snow and ice, but across the region, the COVID-19 pandemic rages on. Here’s what you may have missed over the Christmas holiday.
Annual events move to Zoom, nonprofits prepare for Thanksgiving and more area wellness news.
Despite a lack of definitive evidence that COVID-19 can spread through heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, residential and commercial property owners are looking for ways to preemptively protect themselves and their customers from potential airborne transmission.
In April, Pardee UNC Health Care notified MountainCare that it would no longer donate the use of the 6,000-square-foot building that houses MountainCare’s Henderson County adult day program. MountainCare now must move out by the end of the year to allow Pardee to reuse or sell the building and seeks a free or low-cost space where the program can continue operating.
Interventions by ‘strike teams’ help manage outbreaks at nursing homes; COVID-19 cases mount at Mission Health; St. Luke’s hastens test results through a partnership.
Two new programs, High Intensity Parenting and Lifeline, will provide enhanced training and round-the-clock access to supportive resources for foster parents, including financial incentives.
In Western North Carolina, the main regional hospitals say they currently have more than enough capacity to provide care for area residents. But their approaches, protocols and treatment options for COVID-19 vary.
As confirmed by Mission spokesperson Nancy Lindell on June 11, the health system’s legal representatives have chosen not to file an objection regarding how a pre-election hearing was conducted. The National Labor Relations Board will now consider testimony to determine what nurses would be represented by the union, when the vote will take place and how employees will be allowed to cast ballots.
“Most breast cancers require a combination of different treatments, and the order and combination of those things is a whole lot more complicated today than ever before,” says Dr. Blair Harkness, a gynecological oncologist at Hope Women’s Cancer Centers, an arm of Mission Health. Xpress explores the state of modern breast cancer treatment in the region — including how it’s been affected by COVID-19.
The legislative change allows the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority to use $5 million from its Tourism Product Development Fund — which previously had to be allocated to nonprofit entities or local government and spent on capital projects — for grants of up to $50,000 in support of tourism businesses other than lodging.
Staffers at Mission Hospital have recently been feeling the love from all corners of the community, with restaurants delivering meals around the clock, schools and businesses manufacturing personal protective equipment for medical workers and local residents stepping forward to donate masks and other supplies.
