Mission "Healthcare"

[Vrede too]

My old workplace for 10+ years. I was there when it was absorbed by Mission. I opposed the merger at the time, but it wasn't all bad. Then after I retired, thankfully, the entire nonprofit system was bought out by the private megacorp HCA Healthcare in 2019. My MD, who is part of the nonprofit/public (socialist) Pardee/UNC system calls Mission/HCA a "dumpster fire".

Community report details residents' concerns, 'lost trust' in HCA's Transylvania Regional

A new report is shedding light on community concerns with HCA Healthcare-owned Transylvania Regional Hospital. The report was compiled by the hospital’s Community Engagement Council, and it was released and sent to HCA’s CEO April 11.

“We’ve been working hard to talk to people who live in this county who go and use Transylvania Regional Hospital and find out what their stories are,” said Mark Weinstein, president/CEO of the Brevard Music Center and member of the engagement council.

The council held nine public listening sessions that were attended by more than 200 residents.

“The basic thing that we heard, if I could boil it down to one thing, is that the residents of Transylvania County have lost trust in our community hospital,” Weinstein said.

The 28-page report documents concerns surrounding healthcare access, staffing and quality of care since Transylvania Regional Hospital was purchased by HCA in 2019.

That's sad to read. Mostly, people loved us.

"A local woman reported that she drove herself to TRH in the middle of the night when she was having severe abdominal pain. The doors to the ER were locked and although she banged on the doors and windows no one answered. She ended up calling 911, and about five minutes later someone appeared. She was then transported to Mission Asheville for surgery," the report states about a community member's experience.

“For years, this hospital everyone felt was doing a great job, not that everything was perfect and there were a few stories here and there, as there always will be, but since then, there have been changes in policies and procedures and staffing,” Weinstein said.

The report also outlines possible solutions for HCA to address the presented concerns.

“The best, most obvious approach, would be for HCA to accept the validity of this report, understand what has been said, take accountability, and initiate immediate and specific actions to restore our system to its original standard,” the report states.

After 4 years? Yeah right.

A second solution suggests hiring a healthcare consultant to conduct a performance audit of the hospital offering solutions. The third solution presented asks HCA to sell Transylvania Regional Hospital back to the community.

“Give us this hospital back; either give it to us, let us run it, or sell it to us. We’ll buy it back,” Weinstein said.

The letter sent to HCA CEO Samuel Hazen along with the report asks for a response within 30 days.

Nancy Lindell, Mission Health director of public and media relations, sent News 13 the following statement on April 12 in response to the report:

(blah blah blah)

City of Brevard sues HCA, alleging predatory tactics to monopolize healthcare market
June 3rd 2022

Idk the status of this suit.

NC attorney general monitoring situation after doctors leave rural Mission Health hospital
May 10th 2021

... The City of Brevard sent a letter to AG Josh Stein's office after 14 doctors left Transylvania Regional Hospital....

14 is a lot, huge upheaval even if all were replaced. Idk what actions Stein (our next Gov?) may have taken, but it's clear that the train wreck is ongoing.

[O Really]

HCA accused of trying to push patients into hospice so they'll die there and not count against the hospital's mortality rate.

https://news.yahoo.com/doctors-hca-hosp ... 00386.html

This article is based on interviews with six nurses and 27 doctors who currently practice at 16 HCA hospitals in seven states or did so previously. All said their HCA hospitals pushed palliative and end-of-life care in pursuit of better performance metrics. Internal HCA hospital documents and texts between hospital staffers provided to NBC News support these health care professionals’ views.

I've been fortunate enough not to have had any personal contact with an HCA facility, but these are some despicable people, going way back before this. Medicare fraud, dangerous staffing levels, fraudulent billing ...

[Vrede too]

HCA accused of trying to push patients into hospice so they'll die there and not count against the hospital's mortality rate.

https://news.yahoo.com/doctors-hca-hosp ... 00386.html

This article is based on interviews with six nurses and 27 doctors who currently practice at 16 HCA hospitals in seven states or did so previously. All said their HCA hospitals pushed palliative and end-of-life care in pursuit of better performance metrics. Internal HCA hospital documents and texts between hospital staffers provided to NBC News support these health care professionals’ views.

I've been fortunate enough not to have had any personal contact with an HCA facility, but these are some despicable people, going way back before this. Medicare fraud, dangerous staffing levels, fraudulent billing ...

Wow . Being in critical care discussions with patients and family or among staff about palliative care and hospice were frequent, and I facilitated in-hospital "comfort care" many times. However, in my career I never once felt or heard of pressure from above. Of course, I left before HCA took over.

HCA's reputation was no secret. Shame on state officials for approving the sale, and shame on local govt which saw a property tax windfall for being a huge cheerleader.

[billy.pilgrim]

HCA accused of trying to push patients into hospice so they'll die there and not count against the hospital's mortality rate.

https://news.yahoo.com/doctors-hca-hosp ... 00386.html

This article is based on interviews with six nurses and 27 doctors who currently practice at 16 HCA hospitals in seven states or did so previously. All said their HCA hospitals pushed palliative and end-of-life care in pursuit of better performance metrics. Internal HCA hospital documents and texts between hospital staffers provided to NBC News support these health care professionals’ views.

I've been fortunate enough not to have had any personal contact with an HCA facility, but these are some despicable people, going way back before this. Medicare fraud, dangerous staffing levels, fraudulent billing ...

Wow . Being in critical care discussions with patients and family or among staff about palliative care and hospice were frequent, and I facilitated in-hospital "comfort care" many times. However, in my career I never once felt or heard of pressure from above. Of course, I left before HCA took over.

HCA's reputation was no secret. Shame on state officials for approving the sale, and shame on local govt which saw a property tax windfall for being a huge cheerleader.

I read last week about a hospital dumping patients on street corners like the did in the 60s.
(now I'll have to look it up)
No luck. I thought it was so isolated that it would be easy to find, but nooooo, seems we haven't learned not to dump.
Fucking capitalism.

[Vrede too]

I read last week about a hospital dumping patients on street corners like the did in the 60s.
(now I'll have to look it up)
No luck. I thought it was so isolated that it would be easy to find, but nooooo, seems we haven't learned not to dump.
Fucking capitalism.

Probably not your source, but same point being made:

"It Is Happening Everywhere": This California Nurse Is Calling Out The Real Problem With American Healthcare, And It's Eye-Opening

... Lex connects the dots between incidents of patient dumping and the gutting of the American social safety net. "When you defund social programs, it all ends up in the ER. When you defund senior care, when you defund psychiatric care, when you defund shelters, whether it's homeless shelters or women's shelters."

"When you defund the safety nets that our society needs to prevent people from beginning a crisis, a downward spiral, they end up in the ER and simply put, ER workers and hospital workers are already at their fucking wit's end. We cannot act as a catch all for every single issue in society, and yet, we are here we are doing it. And at the very fucking same time, treating people like literal fucking garbage should never fucking happen." ...

"There are solutions for these problems, but they cost money. They cost money. And we as a society have said that we're A-okay with 400 people having 70% of the nation's wealth while our community members get treated like this." ...

This is why so many of us healthcare workers are leaving the field. We just can't take it anymore.

I don't think some of the nurses where I work understand that who they're voting for is directly impacting their work like this. RN from the South.

Amen.

I hear similar from teachers. They are the catch all for children, providing food, supplies, clothing, emotional support to kids that go without.

... "None of us know what life is going to throw at us, and any of us could be one happenstance away from being in their shoes. Our society gives so much money to the elite class. If we restructured our priorities, no one would need to sleep on the sidewalk."

Fucking capitalism.

[Vrede too]

...

Opinion: Is there anything we can do about Mission and HCA?



I didn't know privatization was coming, but I sure dodged the bullet by retiring a year before it happened. Working ER was hard enough without all of this crap. Still, it all makes me want to

Aha, we can blame Florida Figures.

Protest? Boycott? Complain? Sue?

But once again, what can people do with their anger? Protest?

Sure. But HCA has been unpopular since it was shamed by the federal government with what was at the time the biggest-ever fine for Medicare fraud, $1.7 billion. The HCA CEO at the time, Rick Scott, is now a United States Senator from Florida. HCA has paid hundreds of millions more in fines and settlements since then.

If HCA shrugs off billion-dollar and multimillion-dollar fines, a protest by a few dozen people in a remote corner of North Carolina is background noise.

Crap. To be fair, HCA HQ is and was in Nashville and it could be that Rick Scott (R) was there, too, and he didn't move to Naples, FL until after ripping off America. So, I'll really blame Tennessee rather than Florida.

My former employer:

... Since then at least 15 Transylvania Regional Hospital doctors have quit and two prominent members of the hospital’s board of trustees resigned in protest, saying they feared for the hospital’s future under HCA management.

Brevard Mayor Maureen Copelof met with HCA CEO Sam Hazen asking if HCA would sell the hospital back to the community. Hazen said no.

Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Peter H. Lewis is The Watchdog’s executive editor and a former senior writer and editor at The New York Times. Contact him at plewis@avlwatchdog.org.

Asheville Watchdog is a volunteer-run news team producing important local journalism as a community service. If you value our work, please consider becoming a supporter.

Thank you.

Note: I also created a new "NC Healthcare" thread today in this "Hendersonville/Asheville News" forum.

[billy.pilgrim]

...

Opinion: Is there anything we can do about Mission and HCA?



I didn't know privatization was coming, but I sure dodged the bullet by retiring a year before it happened. Working ER was hard enough without all of this crap. Still, it all makes me want to

Aha, we can blame Florida Figures.

Protest? Boycott? Complain? Sue?

But once again, what can people do with their anger? Protest?

Sure. But HCA has been unpopular since it was shamed by the federal government with what was at the time the biggest-ever fine for Medicare fraud, $1.7 billion. The HCA CEO at the time, Rick Scott, is now a United States Senator from Florida. HCA has paid hundreds of millions more in fines and settlements since then.

If HCA shrugs off billion-dollar and multimillion-dollar fines, a protest by a few dozen people in a remote corner of North Carolina is background noise.

Crap. To be fair, HCA HQ is and was in Nashville and it could be that Rick Scott (R) was there, too, and he didn't move to Naples, FL until after ripping off America. So, I'll really blame Tennessee rather than Florida.

My former employer:

... Since then at least 15 Transylvania Regional Hospital doctors have quit and two prominent members of the hospital’s board of trustees resigned in protest, saying they feared for the hospital’s future under HCA management.

Brevard Mayor Maureen Copelof met with HCA CEO Sam Hazen asking if HCA would sell the hospital back to the community. Hazen said no.

Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Peter H. Lewis is The Watchdog’s executive editor and a former senior writer and editor at The New York Times. Contact him at plewis@avlwatchdog.org.

Asheville Watchdog is a volunteer-run news team producing important local journalism as a community service. If you value our work, please consider becoming a supporter.

Thank you.

Note: I also created a new "NC Healthcare" thread today in this "Hendersonville/Asheville News" forum.

Tennessee for the win

[Vrede too]

Tennessee for the win

Fuckin' Tennessee

Nurses unite in protest against HCA's handling of Mission Hospital staffing issues

NC Attorney General Josh Stein announces lawsuit against HCA Healthcare

'What happened to Mission?' Patients listed in lawsuit against HCA share their stories

Now, the patient is extremely critical and death may be imminent:

Leaders, community members speak as Mission Health risks losing Medicare funding

Mixed feelings. This is an absolute tragedy, one that affects tens of thousands and could affect me if I ever need certain specialty care. I may go to Greenville, SC if I have a choice. Otoh, there's some satisfaction in seeing my discomfort with Transylvania Regional Hospital being absorbed by Mission and more importantly my absolute opposition to nonprofit Mission being sold to for-profit HCA a few years later being proved correct. This mess was all so predictable.

[billy.pilgrim]

Pretty much all republican created disastrous consequences are easily predictable.

[Vrede too]

Pretty much all republican created disastrous consequences are easily predictable.

HCA is likely Repug.
The sellers, nonprofit Mission's board, may or may not have been Repug.
Most of the local and state govt officials who endorsed or approved the sale were Dem

[Vrede too]

CMS report on Mission Hospital details deaths of patients, significan­t delays in care



It's desperation mode in the face of multiple regulators cracking down.

Mission sets 10-minute goal for emergency patient care, document obtained by Watchdog shows

Mission Hospital has enacted drastic operational changes, including rapid turnaround time goals for emergency department patients and their lab work and enhanced communication procedures, all as state investigators have returned to the Asheville facility this week following recent federal findings of serious deficiencies and immediate jeopardy....

(long account of the history and issues, interesting)

Jacob Rhea, also an emergency department registered nurse and union member, said he feared the implemented fixes could be temporary and that Mission needed ultimately to focus on hiring more full-time employees.

“All of the nursing staff at Mission ER, we want to actually have a better solution,’ Rhea said in a Feb. 6 interview. “We want to be able to provide the care that people need. But the way that they’re going about it is they’re trying to put Band-Aids on a gunshot wound.”

I know this is deadly serious, but that is such an ER RN metaphor

My wishes -
Patient care improves;
Staff satisfaction improves;
HCA is run out of town and the Mission system reverts to nonprofit.
In that order. We'll see.

[Vrede too]

HCA accused of trying to push patients into hospice so they'll die there and not count against the hospital's mortality rate.

https://news.yahoo.com/doctors-hca-hosp ... 00386.html


I've been fortunate enough not to have had any personal contact with an HCA facility, but these are some despicable people, going way back before this. Medicare fraud, dangerous staffing levels, fraudulent billing ...

That's so last year. It's gotten much much worse. See the most recent articles below or search AC-T.


https://mountainx.com/opinion/true-emergency/