NC regulators inspect Mission/HCA in Asheville; nurse: conditions better when they visit

ASHEVILLE - State health regulators are conducting another inspection of Mission Hospital following patient deaths and other compliance problems.

A nurse union representative, meanwhile, welcomed the visit, saying management improves conditions when the regulators are present − something a hospital spokesperson denied.

The inspection, which began May 20, comes after the hospital was placed under an "immediate jeopardy" status in December 2023 following patient deaths and other situations that North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services staff said represented eminent threats to patients. The status is the most serious regulators can assign and can result in the loss of Medicare payments to a hospital.

Corrections made by Mission − a former nonprofit bought by the for-profit HCA corporation in 2019 − ended the immediate jeopardy status Feb. 28. But the hospital is still at risk of loss of the government funding due to remaining problems regulators said they found with Mission's governing body, patient’s rights, quality assessment and performance improvement, nursing, laboratory services, emergency services and emergency screening.

The inspection was an unannounced visit that was expected sometime before June 5 to determine if Mission has fixed the many problems. If the hospital has not, Mission could be put on 15-day notice that Medicare payments will be terminated. The hospital can appeal that decision.

State health department staff declined to talk about the inspection. NCDHHS spokesperson Hannah Jones confirmed May 23 inspectors were on site, but added, "we can’t comment on ongoing surveys."

The Citizen Times reached out May 24 to see if the survey was continuing, or if it had ended.

Asked about the inspection, Mission spokesperson Nancy Lindell pointed out that the state had previously accepted the hospital's plan of correction.

"We are grateful to our team at Mission Hospital for their participation in creating successful improvements since our last visit and for their diligent work to address the issues raised and improve the overall patient experience of those who come to us. We are dedicated to providing safe, quality care to the people of Western North Carolina," said Lindell.

Kerri Wilson, a member of the nurses' union told the Citizen Times it was "great to have" the inspectors.

"As we have seen in the past, when they are there, we actually have full staff or close to it," said Wilson, an eight-year specialist of the medical cardiology stepdown unit and member of the union bargaining team now negotiating a new contract with Mission/HCA.

A chief complaint of nurses has been a lack of staffing that they say endangers patients and exhausts nurses, leading to turnover. They have called for higher pay for on-call nurses to incentivize them to come in when staffing is short. That hasn't happened, except when inspectors are present, Wilson said.

"We have been asking for incentive pay to be increased for our PRN (on-call) staff," Wilson said. "And they were not doing that until this week."

HCA Strategic Communications Vice President Katie Czerwinski denied that inspectors had anything to do with changes.

"We have not offered anything different this week than is regularly offered when staff are needed," Czerwinski told the Citizen Times.

The union, now in its fourth year, is negotiating its second contract. Nurses and management have met three times, with a fourth bargaining session planned for May 31.

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Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: NC regulators inspect Mission/HCA in Asheville after patient deaths