North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein on Friday vowed to continue his lawsuit against HCA Healthcare even if federal authorities declare that Mission Hospital has resolved the issues that led to its “immediate jeopardy” designation.
Stein, a Democrat running for governor, made the comments in an exchange with reporters while touring the campus of A-B Tech in Asheville with college President John Gossett.
The visit came on the heels of a 384-page report by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services detailing multiple patient safety issues at Mission that led to the “immediate jeopardy” designation. “Immediate jeopardy” is the most serious warning a hospital can receive from federal authorities. If a hospital does not resolve it, its Medicare and Medicaid funding may be withdrawn.
“My lawsuit was filed, as you know, before CMS issued this letter and its findings,” Stein said. “And so, simply CMS taking a step back and saying that their concerns have been resolved does not answer my lawsuit.”
CMS accepted HCA’s “Plan of Correction” earlier this month. Federal officials found the health care giant in compliance, according to an HCA spokesperson in a statement late Friday afternoon. CMS has not yet confirmed the finding to BPR.
In Stein’s lawsuit, filed in December, he alleges that HCA is failing to provide emergency and cancer care at the level to which it committed when it purchased the Mission Health System in 2019. Previously, the hospital operated as a nonprofit.
“So, until we get to that level of quality of care, I'm going to keep pursuing the litigation,” he said Friday.
The Stein lawsuit and the CMS report are two separate fronts in the ongoing battle over conditions at HCA’s Western North Carolina facilities.
HCA last week filed its response to Stein’s lawsuit, arguing that the case should be dismissed because the hospital did not discontinue its emergency or oncology services. HCA’s attorneys argue in a counterclaim that the health care giant never agreed to specific performance measures in the purchase agreement. The litigation in North Carolina’s Business Court is ongoing.
HCA is also facing a separate lawsuit from the Cities of Brevard and Asheville as well as Buncombe and Madison counties over alleged monopolistic practices that have resulted in higher prices and a lower quality of care. A federal judge ruled Wednesday that that lawsuit can proceed.
Stein said Friday that he is “really concerned” about the CMS report’s findings, which detailed multiple instances of Mission Health failing to adequately care for patients, in some cases leading to patient deaths.
“Clearly, HCA has a lot of work to do,” he said.
Stein’s visit to Western North Carolina comes less than two weeks before the March 5 primary. Polls show Stein leading the Democratic primary field of five candidates, including his closest rival, former state Supreme Court justice Mike Morgan.
On the Republican side, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is the frontrunner in a field that includes attorney Bill Graham and state Treasurer Dale Folwell. Both Stein and Robinson have far outraised their opponents.
“I'm hopeful that I'll win the primary,” Stein said Friday. “Of course, we're going to keep working through March 5th to make sure that we do.”
Stein said that if he wins the primary, a general election race between himself and Robinson would present voters with a choice that is “as stark as possible: Somebody who has a career, which I've done, fighting for people and delivering for them, versus somebody who fights these job-killing cultural wars.”
Robinson's campaign responded that Stein's "only career is far-left politics."
"Stein is a rubber stamp for Joe Biden and the Democrats, who’ve brought North Carolina nothing but failure like sky-high utility bills, struggling schools, rising crime and more," Robinson campaign spokesman Mike Lonergan said in a statement. "The people of North Carolina are tired of career politicians like Josh Stein."
