“This is a workforce who has that trust, connection and inherent knowledge of what people are experiencing and are trained and equipped to address individual and community health,” says Evan Richardson, MAHEC’s director of community health integration. “This is a workforce that can really make an impact.”
The inaugural Mighty Four Miler race in Waynesville raised $6,860 for the Riley Howell Foundation Fund, which makes grants to organizations that support victims of gun violence. Plus, grant opportunities, leadership changes and news of note among area nonprofits.
At its April 13 meeting, Council will decide whether to purchase 21 acres of land intended for affordable housing using $1.6 million generated from the December sale of city-owned land acquired through urban renewal policies.
The team at Gibbins Advisors wants to hear every complaint raised about Mission Health — but they can only call noncompliance on concerns directly tied to the 15 core commitments HCA Healthcare agreed to uphold when the hospital conglomerate purchased the Mission system in 2019.
The initiative has identified six strategies: healthy food distribution, community gardens, agriculture networks, food waste, cooking and nutrition education, and the development of a regional food council.
Upcoming projects include initial steps to expand Deaverview Apartments into a “purpose-built” community and an 80-unit apartment complex for people experiencing chronic homelessness.
PPP 2.0 Help is at hand for qualifying local businesses seeking to access federal pandemic relief funding. In partnership with Dogwood Health Trust, Mountain BizWorks has opened the application process for a second round of Paycheck Protection Program awards. As with the first round of funding, DHT is committing $2 million to enable Mountain BizWorks […]
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.
The foundation approved roughly $47 million in grants throughout the year, including over $3 million for personal protective equipment, $5 million to address substance use disorder, $3.7 million for racial equity and $3 million toward affordable housing.
Nearly $118,000 from the Dogwood Health Trust will hire a program manager as part of a previously funded community paramedic team. And $900,000 in federal funds will support housing and utility payments for county residents who have lost income due to COVID-19.
Tax records examined by Asheville Watchdog reveal that in the decade leading up to the $1.5 billion sale of Asheville’s community-owned hospital system, a steadily increasing amount of Mission’s revenue went to salaries and bonuses for an increasingly crowded suite of non-clinical executives.
Amid internal upheaval following the sudden departure of CEO Antony Chiang, the COVID-19 pandemic and economic uncertainty, the $1.5 billion foundation held its first annual meeting virtually on Oct. 28. Highlights included funding updates and a discussion about organizational transparency.
According to a presentation available before Board of Commissioners meeting on Thursday, Nov. 5, 67 lodging businesses have been delinquent in reporting or remitting occupancy taxes due March through September, with an additional 29 establishments yet to report at least one month of taxes during that period.
Years from now, the decision in 2018 by the directors of Mission Health to sell to HCA Healthcare might be seen as a brilliant strategic maneuver, one that guaranteed affordable, high-quality healthcare for future generations of western North Carolinians. This was, and still is, the position of the directors and executives who pushed the deal.
A team of Jackson County researchers found that wastewater collected in rural areas can be used to track COVID-19 outbreaks up to a week before a patient tests positive. Now, they’re hoping to expand the study across the region.
Less than a year after Antony Chiang arrived in Asheville to lead the newly formed Dogwood Health Trust, he’s left the foundation — and despite repeated attempts, Xpress has yet to learn why.
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Principal Chief Richard Sneed, whose tribe owns two casinos in Western North Carolina, had lobbied the board to oppose the rival operation at an Aug. 4 briefing. He argued that the Catawba Indian Nation, members of which primarily reside in South Carolina, were not properly authorized to operate gaming across state lines.
Six years ago, Roy Harris helped launch the Southside Community Garden. The initiative has taken on greater meaning in the wake of COVID-19, he says. Food insecurity is a particular problem in the predominantly low-income Southside neighborhood. Gardening, he continues, is one way to combat the issue.
As outlined in a presentation available before the meeting by Jeremiah LeRoy, the county’s sustainability officer, the projects could save Buncombe County, A-B Tech, Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools roughly $27.2 million in total electricity costs over the next 30 years.
As Mission Health begins to reopen for elective surgeries and procedures put on hold during the first wave of the ongoing pandemic, the unresolved question that roiled the community just three months ago remains: Was HCA’s purchase of Mission Health healthy for Asheville?
According to the formal agreement, up for a Board of Commissioners vote on Tuesday, April 21, both city and county staffers would remain employees of and still be paid by their respective governments while carrying out their new duties. Asheville and Buncombe County would be required to cover the expense of all personal protective equipment for workers from the other government.
