Reclaim Healthcare WNC’s goals are to replace HCA with a nonprofit hospital system, “hold HCA accountable for its harmful culture and practices” and “restore best-in-class healthcare throughout the Mission system,” per a press release.
Tag: Medicaid
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Letter: Let’s get profit out of health care
“Research reveals public hospitals and nonprofit hospitals produce better patient outcomes than the for-profit ones.”
Dogwood requests independent monitor proposals for HCA
Dogwood Health Trust announced Jan. 2 it is seeking a request for proposals to provide independent monitor, or IM, services to oversee HCA Healthcare. HCA purchased the nonprofit Mission Hospital for $1.5 billion in 2019, and the nonprofit Dogwood Health Trust was formed as part of the sale. In its asset purchase agreement, HCA made 15 commitments […]
Year in review: Health care gets mixed marks in 2023
Xpress heard from residents from all walks of life — some in health care, many not — about their thoughts on health and wellness in the region in 2023.
Wellness roundup: Medicaid expansion begins Dec. 1
Adults may qualify if they earn up to 138% of the federal poverty limit, which is about $20,000 a year for a single person and about $34,000 for a family of three.
Sweeten Creek mental health facility opening this month
The chief operating officer of Mission Hospital Behavioral Health Services, Melina Arrowood, gave Xpress a tour of the site prior to its opening while the building was under construction.
MAHEC program expands dentists’ capabilities for low-income patients
MAHEC’s program is geared toward general dentists who are likely to encounter patients with a range of issues that stem from the lack of dental care. Many patients don’t see dentists because they can’t afford it.
Wellness roundup: VA debuts ambulance for veterans
The Veteran Medical Transport ambulance for Charles George VA Medical Center will provide transportation between facilities and after hospitalization.
Letter: Where is help for people with disabilities?
“They waste money instead of building sidewalks on every state and city road.”
How state law restricts WNC residents’ access to abortion
Although abortion is technically legal in the U.S., access varies widely. State laws dictate which specific procedures are allowed, which health care providers can perform them and even who can get an abortion. Access is also shaped by how many facilities there are in a given area that are capable of providing this kind of […]
WNC’s uninsured rely on free and low-cost health clinics
Every Saturday morning, nurse practitioner Amy Beane can be found at the Ebbs Chapel Community Center in Mars Hill. The building is home to the Outland Family Clinic, which opened June 5; it’s where Beane volunteers weekly to provide free health care to anyone in need. “I had someone come in who has not seen […]
Wellness roundup: Vaya to consolidate with Cardinal; MAHEC receives doula grant
Asheville-based Vaya Health and Charlotte-based Cardinal Innovations, two of North Carolina’s largest managed care organizations, announced on June 1 that they will consolidate ahead of the state’s transformation to Medicaid managed care. Vaya will assume responsibility for coordinating services for Cardinal Innovations members once the organizations are consolidated. Vaya Health currently manages services for individuals […]
With interest in birth centers soaring, local facility struggles to cover costs
When Emma Strickland learned she was pregnant with her second child, she started looking for an alternative to a hospital birth. She found it at the WNC Birth Center. The center is open during the COVID pandemic but has had to scale back on some of its related services. Ironically, that’s led to a shortage of income at a time when women like Strickland find themselves increasingly drawn to a birth center.
Letter: Complete the census to get fair funding, representation
“Asheville and Buncombe County are in danger of losing a significant amount of financial support from the federal government by residents not completing and returning their census information by Sept. 30.”
Remote learning fails students with disabilities
Virtual schooling is a constant challenge for children with disabilities. School-based resources like speech and physical therapy are hard to deliver remotely — and federal limitations to Medicaid have kept families from filling an essential gap in help for their kids.
NCDHHS launches mask campaign, free COVID-19 testing for uninsured
The N.C. Medicaid Optional COVID-19 Testing program will fully reimburse Medicaid providers for the costs incurred by testing people without insurance for COVID-19.
Letter: Edney can help steer NC in right direction
“Sam is a deeply thoughtful and knowledgeable person with humanistic values who can help steer North Carolina in the right direction for its citizens to thrive.”
Letter: A big mistake to close wheelchair clinic
“If a patient or client has a poor-fitting wheelchair and/or poor seating, it contributes to an endless cascade of treatments, suffering and hospitalizations instead of patient progress.”
Letter: Why are legislators denying workers Medicaid?
“North Carolina Democratic and Republican legislators know that the solution to filling this gap is to pass legislation that provides ‘clean’ Medicaid expansion.”
As state reimagines Medicaid, local nonprofits may have role to play
“Clearly, we already have both the expertise and the commitment to improve lives in our region. What we need is more funding and better coordination among our health care system, county public health and social service agencies, and nonprofit community partners.”
Letter: Mission’s sale — one of the greatest local political cons
“In scope, it compares with the ill-advised, Democratically led, but bipartisan-supported effort [circa 2005] to steal Asheville’s water system.”