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Healthcare providers in Western North Carolina have lambasted a Mission Health's response to a major regulatory censure.

CMS put Mission Health on notice in early February that conditions there had created an "immediate jeopardy" situation, the , according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.

Now, local physicians, former system employees, and health advocates have said Mission Health's stated response to the CMS rebuke fails to address their quality-of-care concerns, which they raised in 2023.

"The response that they made to the immediate jeopardy finding is completely inadequate," Bruce Kelly, MD, a retired family medicine physician who spent decades at Mission Health, told 乌鸦传媒.

The CMS communication came in the wake of conducted by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) on behalf of CMS late last year, and it to avoid termination of its CMS contract.

It was subsequently revealed that a number of incidents took place at Mission Health in 2022 and 2023 that in areas including patients' rights, and nursing and emergency services. Several patient deaths were noted in a federal report, as were further deficiencies in areas like quality assurance and performance improvement, staffing, and delivery of care.

Mission Health, which was acquired by HCA Healthcare in 2019 for $1.5 billion, submitted its plan of correction to CMS, and , but Kelly and others have publicly .

In a memorandum sent to NCDHHS, the group said that Mission Health , and that a third-party monitor should be put it place for the plan of correction, among other concerns, according to the Asheville Watchdog.

A spokesperson for NCDHHS confirmed in an email to 乌鸦传媒 that Chief Deputy Secretary for Health Mark Benton had received some concerns and recommendations regarding the plan of correction. "He shared that information with his regulatory team and they appreciated receiving the feedback from concerned physicians and other interested stakeholders," the spokesperson said.

"Ensuring the health, safety, and well-being of patients in a licensed healthcare setting is a shared, top priority for the NCDHHS Division of Health Service Regulation (DHSR) and [CMS]," the spokesperson added. "While we cannot comment on ongoing investigations, staff from CMS and DHSR were on site last week at HCA-Mission to determine if the hospital's federally-approved plan of correction is in effect."

Nancy Lindell, director of public and media relations for HCA Healthcare's North Carolina Division/Mission Health, told 乌鸦传媒 in an email that, "We are pleased that the state surveyors found Mission Health to be in compliance with the corrective action plan previously accepted by CMS and are recommending removal of the immediate jeopardy."

In addition to CMS scrutiny, HCA-Mission Health faces a legal challenge by the North Carolina cities and towns it serves. Last week, a federal judge the antitrust case related to the for-profit entity's 2019 acquisition.

Lindell told 乌鸦传媒 that "we intend to vigorously defend the lawsuit, while continuing to provide excellent healthcare to the citizens of Western North Carolina."

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