Since investor-owned HCA Healthcare bought nonprofit Mission Health System in 2019, stories are increasingly common of long waits in the emergency room, unsanitary conditions, broken or missing equipment, patients having to lie in their own urine and feces, doctors leaving because of pay disputes and nurses weeping in the hallways because of stress and chronic understaffing.
HCA Healthcare, which owns and operates Mission Hospital in Asheville, reported this month that it made $1.4 billion in profits for the first three months of 2021, more than double the amount for the same period last year.
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.
Mission Hospital recently opened an emergency department specifically for pediatric patients in Asheville. Doctors and parents alike say the dedicated 12-unit facility can make an emergency visit less stressful and quicker for young patients.
County health officials will move into phase 1b of the COVID-19 vaccination process the week of Monday, Jan. 11. But as the vaccine rollout gets underway, residents should prepare for limited availability.
While there’s light at the end of the proverbial COVID-19 tunnel, Western North Carolina residents cannot let down their guard. Over the last week, the percent of positive COVID-19 tests has risen to 7.8% in Buncombe County; the county’s daily COVID-19 case counts now average 100 or higher.
“People are out and about, sometimes with symptoms, putting people at risk,” said Stacie Saunders, Buncombe County’s public health director, during an Oct. 20 update to the county Board of Commissioners. “Folks are not adhering to the precautions like keeping 6 feet apart.”
“Please encourage them in the coming weeks and months as they navigate their way to positive hospital reforms benefiting everyone.”
“As we demonstrate for transformation of police departments, the removal of statues and other symbols of racism, remember that unequal health care delivery to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) is real, with lifelong and generational effects.”
“We, as the Sabbath Circle at Servanthood House, a spiritual community which has functioned for more than 20 years as such, mourn the loss of the chapel and what it has meant.”
“I also predict that nurses will earn a higher hourly rate and will be able to work in an environment with higher nurse-to-patient ratios.”
Union leaders expect a struggle with HCA but say Asheville nurses are “ready to engage in that struggle.”
Labor scholar Bruce Nissen warns that HCA is signaling “not accepting the results.” But he predicts the hospital company can’t succeed after a landslide union win.
“The nurses voting at Mission Hospital should know there is likely no going back if NNU wins this election.”
“What kind of community hospital do you want?”
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.
Registered nurses at Mission go public with frustrations over alleged staff shortages and safety concerns during pandemic, as the National Labor Relations Board says votes on union representation will be counted Sept. 16.
Limited COVID-19 testing supplies at commercial and hospital laboratories are causing significant delays in results. In turn, hospitals like Pardee in Hendersonville are forced to wait to administer COVID-19 treatment to suspected patients.
East Asheville resident Gloria Pincu lost her husband, Daniel, to COVID-19 while she also battled the disease. As she slowly regains her strength, Pincu is struggling to make sense of everything that’s happened since the pandemic began in March.
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.
