North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein announced on December 14 that it is suing the Nashville-based 182-hospital hospital HCA Health system for allegedly failing to deliver on its promise to maintain consistent delivery of emergency and cancer care in Western North Carolina, following the 2019 purchase of Asheville, North Carolina. Mission Health System.
He Winston-Salem JournalRichard Craver reported Thursday afternoon that “HCA Healthcare, the for-profit owner of Mission Health System in Asheville, is being sued by North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein for failing to meet obligations in its 2019 purchase agreement. attorney general conducts antitrust reviews of hospital merger applications. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Buncombe County Superior Court, includes a fact sheet about how the attorney general’s office determined that HCA is not meeting its contractual obligations. Stein claims that HCA ‘fails to provide the consistent, quality emergency and oncology care it is committed to providing to the people of Western North Carolina.’”
Attorney General Stein made the following statement announcing the lawsuit Thursday: “The for-profit HCA has broken its promise to the people of Western North Carolina and to my office. Quality healthcare is too important and, in some cases, a matter of life and death. But apparently HCA cares more about its profits than its patients. Mission HCA doctors, nurses and medical staff have worn themselves to the bone trying to care for patients without the necessary resources or support. They deserve our gratitude, but they and their patients also deserve better. “I am going to take HCA to court to make sure it lives up to the agreement it made when it purchased the Mission nonprofit in 2019. That is what the people of Western North Carolina deserve.”
In the announcement, Attorney General Stein’s office added that “when HCA purchased Mission, Attorney General Stein negotiated additional health care protections for patients because he was concerned that HCA would cut critical services the community needs. HCA pledged not to discontinue emergency and trauma services or oncology services at Mission Hospital until at least 2029. Over the past several years, the North Carolina Department of Justice has heard from hundreds of North Carolinians about problems at HCA and has received more than 500 complaints. . Patients specifically have raised concerns about emergency and trauma services and oncology services. “Attorney General Stein is asking the court to order HCA to restore emergency, trauma and oncology services to the level Mission Hospital provided before HCA assumed control.”
A copy of the complaint can be found here..
He Winston-Salem Journal‘s Craver reported that “HCA Healthcare’s North Carolina Division deferred comment to Nancy Lindell, Mission’s director of media and public relations, who cited in her comments Stein’s candidacy for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2024.” “We remain confident that we will continue to meet, and often exceed, our obligations under the asset purchase agreement that the attorney general approved at the time of our purchase, and we intend to vigorously defend the lawsuit,” Lindell said. ‘Importantly, the independent monitor confirmed our compliance with that agreement during its most recent review. This lawsuit will have no impact on our commitment to the community we are proud to serve.’”
As Craver noted, “The complaint comes as Stein has become more vocal about the ripple effects of healthcare system acquisitions and mergers. High-profile local examples Stein approved include: Atrium Health’s acquisition of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in October 2020; the merger of Atrium and Advocate Aurora in December 2022 that formed the fifth largest healthcare system in the country; and Novant Health Inc.’s acquisition of New Hanover Regional Medical Center in February 2021.”
Like Mitchell Black Asheville Citizen-Times He explained it on Thursday afternoon., “North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein filed a landmark lawsuit accusing HCA Healthcare of failing to provide the level of emergency services and cancer care it agreed to when it purchased the Mission Health system in 2019. Stein, who is running for governor, he announced the filing at a Dec. 14 news conference in downtown Asheville. The lawsuit Stein filed with the Superior Court Chamber of the General Court of Justice asks the court to require HCA to restore emergency and oncology services to their pre-sale conditions. Stein’s office notified Dogwood Health Trust in a late October letter that HCA violated commitments it made when it purchased the Mission Health system in 2019. Dogwood is the nonprofit entity that received proceeds from the $1.5 million purchase. millions. “She is responsible for overseeing HCA’s compliance with those commitments and making grants to organizations in Western North Carolina,” he noted.
Stein’s lawsuit, filed in Buncombe County Superior Court, asks the court to declare that HCA has breached its asset purchase agreement, issue a permanent injunction preventing HCA from committing such breaches, and require HCA to provide services emergency and cancer care at the level they were at. before 2019.
In response to a query for Statistical news Tara Bonow on Thursday, Mission’s Lindell emphasized the fact that Stein is currently running for governor, saying, “We are aware of the announcement gubernatorial candidate Stein made today in Asheville.” Lindell wrote that HCA is confident it will continue to meet its obligations under the purchase agreement. She noted that the independent monitor appointed to oversee HCA compliance found no problems during its most recent review. “While there have been challenges, some of which we continue to address as we work to expand our capacity, we remain committed to serving our community,” Lindell said. “Even though the state does not allow major expansions at Mission Hospital, we will continue to fight for critical access to health care services for the people of Western North Carolina.”
