For months, Western North Carolina elected officials, health care professionals and others have been calling for HCA Healthcare, the country’s largest for-profit hospital company, to sell Asheville-based Mission Health System amid a torrent of lawsuits, patient complaints and even a federal inquiry.
Now, a new group is escalating those demands and calling for Mission to return to a nonprofit entity.
Reclaim Healthcare WNC describes itself as “a volunteer-led coalition of physicians, nurses, elected officials, clergy, business leaders, and healthcare and community advocates.” The group launched this week and counts several local elected officials among its leadership, including state Sen. Julie Mayfield (D), Brevard Mayor Maureen Copelof and Highlands Mayor Patrick Taylor.
“We are giving voice to the people of this region who are disappointed and angry at the degradation in the quality of care being provided in the Mission system, and particularly at Mission Hospital,” Mayfield said in a statement. “We are also a voice for the physicians, nurses, and staff who work at or with Mission who are not able to speak out due to the culture of fear and retaliation that HCA has created.”
Copelof said issues with HCA’s management are not limited to Asheville’s Mission Hospital, which has been the focus of many complaints since HCA bought the previously-nonprofit facility in 2019.
“We cannot forget that this is a regional issue,” Copelof said in a statement. “Our local hospital in Transylvania County has also been negatively impacted by HCA’s ownership, and the ability of our residents to receive care locally has been greatly diminished.”
Other members of the group’s leadership team are Dr. Bruce Kelly, pastor Missy Harris and former Western Carolina Medical Society CEO Miriam Schwarz.
Asked for comment, Nancy Lindell, a spokeswoman for HCA, said the company is aware that the group has “submitted an op-ed to re-share their opinions about Mission Health,” an apparent reference to a forthcoming opinion piece in the Asheville Citizen-Times.
Lindell also shared a fact sheet about Mission Hospital. The document pointed to national accolades Mission has received and emphasized the hospital’s commitment to patient care, workplace safety, adequate staffing and compensation.
“Our colleagues are at the heart of everything we do,” the document stated. “We are committed to fostering an exceptional workplace environment to support their career development, growth and professional success.”
News of the coalition’s formation also comes as HCA and the Mission Hospital nurses’ union are battling over a new contract. The previous contract expired in early July, and while negotiations continue, a nurses’ strike in the coming weeks remains a possibility. A community picket outside Mission Hospital is scheduled for Tuesday, August 6, beginning at 5:30 p.m., according to the union.
The Reclaim Healthcare WNC coalition traces its beginnings to October 2023, when a group of doctors wrote a letter in which they blasted HCA for putting “profits over people” and implored the health care giant to change course.
The physicians sent the letter to an independent monitor chosen to oversee HCA’s commitment to its 2019 agreement to purchase the health care system.
In the months since, the criticism and calls for change have grown louder.
In December, state Attorney General Josh Stein, who is the Democratic nominee for governor, sued HCA, accusing the company of breaching the terms of its purchase agreement by failing to provide quality emergency and oncology care. HCA has sought the suit’s dismissal, arguing that it has abided by the agreement and that it never agreed to specific measures of performance. The court has not yet ruled on either claim.
The company also faces lawsuits filed by the City of Brevard and Buncombe County.
HCA has also faced scrutiny from federal authorities. Late last year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services declared that conditions at Mission Hospital put patients in “immediate jeopardy,” the most serious warning a hospital can receive.
In a 384-page report, inspectors detailed the multiple safety issues – including delayed treatment and failures to provide timely care – that led to the designation. In some cases, the report stated, the failures led to patient death.
State inspectors made regular visits to the facility in the wake of the designation, and HCA submitted several “Plans of Correction.” In June, the designation was removed.
In a press release announcing its formation, Reclaim Healthcare WNC said it has three goals: 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 Health System.
“Specific constituencies, such as business owners, elected officials, clergy, and physicians, can also sign sector-specific letters in support of the coalition’s goals through the website,” the group said.
