Community invited to Dogwood, Independent Monitor listening sessions after Mission Hospital jeopardy

Dogwood Health Trust and the Independent Monitor are inviting Buncombe County residents to public listening sessions as federal regulators again flagged Mission Hospital for urgent patient-safety problems. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services placed the hospital in "immediate jeopardy" for the third time in two years, a sanction that indicates conditions posing an immediate risk to patient health and safety, and required an independent consultant to oversee safety and quality improvements.

Organizers have scheduled sessions for March 9 and March 10 that will include a review of findings from the Independent Monitor’s 2024 reporting year and an overview of the process for the 2025 monitoring report. Affiliated Monitors, Inc., which serves as the Independent Monitor under the 2019 Asset Purchase Agreement between HCA Healthcare and the former nonprofit Mission Health System, will present updates on its oversight work and evaluate HCA’s compliance with commitments made as part of the sale.

The oversight action follows a series of incidents cited by regulators, including two patient deaths, a reported assault on a nurse and a measles exposure in the emergency department earlier this year. Those events have intensified community concern about safety at Mission Hospital and about whether institutional change is occurring quickly enough to protect patients and staff.

Community meetings have already drawn public attention. Two consecutive-night listening sessions were held recently, including one at A-B Tech that drew more than 70 people and an earlier meeting in Marion. HCA representatives staffed a table at the events to speak with attendees, an appearance that Rev. Missy Harris, former Mission Hospital chaplain and board member of Reclaim Healthcare WNC, called notable. "I really appreciate that HCA agreed to show up tonight and last night. They haven’t done that before in a public setting like this. I’m grateful for that. And that’s a helpful thing for the community to see, and for the community to be able to talk to them directly," Harris said. She also raised a direct concern about handling of deceased patients: "The question that I posed was, what is HCA doing to rebuild the community’s trust that when a patient dies at the hospital, that their family member or friend’s body will be cared for with respect and care and dignity."

Dogwood Health Trust CEO Dr. Susan Mims urged community participation as part of the monitor’s work. "The perspectives and feedback that community members share, either through the Independent Monitor’s website or in meetings, is essential to evaluating HCA’s compliance with the Asset Purchase Agreement," Mims said in a statement. Gerald Coyne, leader of the independent monitor team, stressed the value of ongoing reporting from residents. "Their engagement has been a really powerful force in learning what’s really going on beyond just the required reports. They need to stay engaged. They need to not get discouraged. And they need to - when they see something, good or bad - report it," Coyne said.

Representatives from Dogwood Health Trust, HCA Healthcare, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of the North Carolina Attorney General are expected to participate. Attendees may submit questions or comments in advance, and the monitor and participating organizations have committed to follow up. For Asheville and Buncombe County residents, these sessions are a direct avenue to influence oversight that affects hospital staffing, care quality and trust in a central regional health system. The monitor’s 2024 findings and the 2025 reporting timeline will shape whether those concerns lead to measurable change.