This story was originally published in the Asheville Watchdog.
At HCA Healthcare’s April 23 shareholder meeting, CEO Sam Hazen pushed back on claims that he needed to do more to engage with Mission Hospital, which faces a fast-approaching deadline to fix deficiencies in care or face the loss of Medicare and Medicaid funding.
“In my normal travels, I go to Asheville, North Carolina frequently. I have visited with community leaders and key stakeholders and our people at our hospitals numerous times,” said Hazen, who became CEO in January 2019, just months before HCA bought the Mission Health system for $1.5 billion.
But 14 elected officials across the city, county and region interviewed by Asheville Watchdog said they have never met with Hazen. Many said that they are not aware of anyone who has.
“My phone number is on the county website and my campaign website, but I haven’t heard from him yet,” said Buncombe County Commissioner Drew Ball.
Representatives of HCA Healthcare and Mission Hospital declined to provide any information about whom Hazen has met with.
Earlier this month, just days after Hazen’s remarks, both the Asheville City Council and the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners passed resolutions calling for the CEO to visit western North Carolina and meet with elected officials, healthcare advocates and other community leaders.
Hazen defended his record of visiting the region after state Rep. Julie Mayfield, D-Buncombe, put forward a shareholder proposal calling for HCA to commission a study of the “healthcare consequences” of the company’s management of Mission. The measure was defeated in a shareholder vote.
Mayfield, one of the founders of Reclaim Healthcare WNC, a coalition calling for increased accountability for HCA and Mission, said she has never met with Hazen.
Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer and Republican U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards, through a spokesperson, both said that while they had met with Mission CEO Greg Lowe, they had not met with Hazen.
The Watchdog reached out to all members of the Asheville City Council and Buncombe County Board of Commissioners to see if any had met with Hazen.
Amanda Edwards, chair of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners – who has not met Hazen – said that the resolution inviting the CEO to the region reflected the urgent need for dialogue.
“I want to hear from him what his plan is with HCA in our region, to ensure they are listening to our residents about their experience, their concerns and that they are addressing those concerns,” Edwards said.
Councilmembers Sage Turner, Shaneika Smith, Bo Hess and Maggie Ullman all said they had not met with him.
Hess said it would be “news to me” that Hazen had met with anyone. Asked if he would be willing to meet with the CEO, Hess said, “I’m always willing to meet with folks to improve the lives of the citizens of Asheville and Buncombe County.”
Asheville Vice Mayor Antanette Mosely and Councilmember Kim Roney, who is running for mayor, did not respond to The Watchdog.
Buncombe Commissioner Jennifer Horton said she had never met with Hazen but would welcome a meeting with him. Patients, residents and their representatives need assurances about the quality of care that HCA is providing, said Horton, a registered nurse with 20 years in healthcare.
Commissioner Parker Sloan also said that he would “love” to meet with Hazen to discuss healthcare in the region. Commissioner Al Whitesides also said he had not met with Hazen.
Commissioners Martin Moore and Terri Wells did not respond to inquiries from the Watchdog.
State Rep. Brian Turner, D-Buncombe, similarly confirmed that he had not met with Hazen and was unaware of anyone who had.
Brevard Mayor Maureen Copelof said that she had met Hazen once in 2022, but that he doesn’t meet with elected officials when he comes to the region.
Representatives of Dogwood Health Trust, the foundation responsible for enforcing HCA’s compliance with the terms of its 2019 purchase, were traveling and unavailable for comment, a spokesperson told Asheville Watchdog.
A representative from the state Department of Health and Human Services said that a search of employee calendars in the last six months did not show any meetings scheduled with Hazen.
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Since becoming CEO of Mountain Health Education Center in 2022, Dr. Bill Hathaway has met Hazen once, but the meeting came during an event for the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County, according to a spokesperson for MAHEC, a leading community healthcare provider that also trains medical professionals.
Since Nashville-based HCA purchased Mission in 2019, the hospital has received four Immediate Jeopardy sanctions from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The sanctions, the most severe the agency can issue, followed investigators’ findings that the hospital had breached federal standards of care and endangered or harmed patients, including nine who died.
In order to have an Immediate Jeopardy sanction lifted, a hospital must present CMS with a plan of correction and demonstrate improvement within 23 days of the penalty. While the most recent Immediate Jeopardy, which was imposed in late January, was officially lifted February 9, Mission is still out of compliance with some federal standards of care. It has until July 26 to address those or it will again risk being denied reimbursement from Medicaid and Medicare.
Following its most recent Immediate Jeopardy in January, Mission was required to present an “enhanced plan of correction.” The hospital also hired an outside consultant to help with compliance with federal standards of care.
In 2025, Hazen received $26,456,606 in total compensation, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Roughly $17 million of that came from shares, options or incentives for HCA’s stock performance, while $5.4 million was tied directly to an incentive plan.
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Ted Clifford is The Watchdog’s investigative reporter focusing on healthcare. He can be reached at tclifford@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s local reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.