Asheville and Buncombe County filed a class-action lawsuit against HCA Healthcare and Mission Health on July 27 in U.S. District Court. The lawsuit alleges HCA is attempting to monopolize health care in Western North Carolina. “The Asheville City Council and the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners felt it was necessary to take this step to […]
Even at 8 a.m., June 2 was blazing hot outside Mission Hospital. Few trees lent little shade at the entrance to the complex. But the registered nurses who gathered that morning for a rally with National Nurses United are used to being on their feet for long periods of time in uncomfortable conditions. About 50 […]
Brevard officials hope other Western North Carolina local governments will join the city’s lawsuit alleging monopolistic practices by HCA Healthcare. None have, but none say they have ruled it out.
Three hospitals plan to file applications to build a new 67-bed hospital in Western North Carolina.
HCA declined repeated requests for the number of doctors who have left the Mission system since it took over in February 2019 and refuses to say how many doctors are on staff today, other than that the number is “relatively the same.” But Asheville Watchdog identified 223 doctors who appear to be no longer practicing there.
Lawsuit alleges Mission Health monopoly Six residents of Western North Carolina filed a class-action lawsuit against HCA Healthcare and Mission Health System on Aug. 10, alleging restraint of trade and unlawful monopolization. The plaintiffs say they have paid higher health insurance premiums, copays and deductibles than have residents of surrounding areas due to Mission’s ability […]
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.
As of December 2020, there were 21,391 unique job postings in Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison and Transylvania counties. But many of the available jobs require higher levels of education or training than those currently unemployed possess.
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.
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.
Some NC hospitals have clear plans while others still working out details. Some not responding to questions about COVID-19 vaccine distribution.
Hospitals across the state are bracing for a coronavirus surge that could push them to the brink.
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.
Local elected officials, ordinary citizens and even a Mission nurse all blasted the stewardship of Nashville, Tennessee-based HCA Healthcare, which bought the collection of hospitals and other health care institutions for $1.5 billion and began running it in February 2019. The comments came at a Feb. 10 meeting in Asheville to get public input on the performance of the system since it was taken over by the for-profit company.
As the Western North Carolina community prepares for its first looks inside the new $400 million Mission Health North Tower, Xpress learned about some of the features of the facility, from high-tech touches to local art.
