This article was originally published by the Asheville Watchdog.
For the third time in less than two years, Mission Hospital faces sanctions that could result in it losing crucial federal funding, CEO Greg Lowe told employees in a letter Thursday night.
The letter, obtained Friday by Asheville Watchdog, said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had notified the hospital that it had been placed in immediate jeopardy. The finding, which means that deficiencies at the hospital endanger patients’ lives and safety, is one of the most serious sanctions a hospital can face. Including a 2021 determination, it is the fourth time CMS has placed Mission in immediate jeopardy since HCA Healthcare bought the nonprofit Mission Health system in 2019.
Mission must now fix the deficiencies or risk the termination of the federal contract that allows it to receive Medicare and Medicaid payments. The finding followed a visit by state regulators, which the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said took place Jan. 6 through 9.
It is not clear what problems led regulators to make the latest immediate jeopardy recommendation. A CMS spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. Lowe said the hospital would hire an independent consultant “to improve processes and systems necessary to ensure CMS compliance and quality care for our patients.” He also noted that, in “many cases,” hospital staff and patients are taking concerns directly to CMS, bypassing Mission’s grievance process.
A hospital spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mission has been under persistent scrutiny from state and federal regulators since September, when NCDHHS officials arrived to investigate a series of incidents, including the deaths of two patients; they found that staff errors, communication breakdowns, and technological problems put patients’ lives at risk, and CMS placed the hospital in immediate jeopardy.
CMS removed Mission from immediate jeopardy in November but told Lowe that the hospital remained out of compliance with federal health and safety regulations. The agency cited deficiencies in patients’ rights, nursing services and emergency services.
CMS gave Mission a Jan. 15 deadline to fix those problems or face the termination of its Medicare agreement. It’s not clear whether those issues were resolved; an agency spokesperson this month declined multiple requests for an update on the matter, saying only that it was “actively working to address circumstances” at the hospital.
Mission was placed in immediate jeopardy in 2024 after an NCDHHS inspection revealed 18 patients were harmed — including four who died — in 2022 and 2023 in connection to problems with the hospital’s emergency and oncology services. The sanction was lifted after the hospital provided a plan of correction.
The hospital faced the same sanction in 2021, after regulators found that it failed to properly care for a patient who had a history of drug use and was found dying on the floor of her room.
This story will be updated.
