12-story Mission tower gets unanimous final OK

Mission Health’s proposed 12-story, $400 million tower encompassing 681,000 square feet — the largest-ever contruction project for Asheville — received site plan approval on a 7-0 vote from City Council on Oct. 13.

With council’s green light, Mission cleared the final city hurdle before the project could be launched. The large size of the project meant it required a Level III review under the city’s Unified Development Ordinance — and required a vote by council.

The tower will end the need to transport patients by ambulance between two Biltmore Avenue buildings. It will replace the St. Joseph’s hospital campus, which is on the opposite side of Biltmore Avenue from most of Mission’s facilities. The tower will have frontage on Hospital Drive and Victoria Road.

Mission began a serious examination of the need for changes about four years ago, Sonya Greck, Mission’s senior vice president of Behavioral Health and Safety net Services, told council.

“It was quite obvious to us, as we looked at facilities, that the St. Joe’s facility was aging out, as well as there were needs for our emergency department.

“Those were the two catalysts that started this process of this replacement hospital, and this tower is a replacement hospital,” she said.

The state General Assembly voted in late September to repeal a law that set limitations on Mission Health’s operations.

The Certificate of Public Advantage law, or COPA, has kept a cap on Mission’s profit margin and the number of doctors it can employ since 1995. The bill provides that the restrictions end as of January 2018.

Regarding the repeal, Mission President and Chief Executive Officer Ron Paulus said in a statement, “Although it was an important tool at the time, it has outlived its usefulness and we feel strongly that this is the right decision for the residents of Western North Carolina.”

He added that Mission has improved the quality of its care since its merger with St. Joseph’s Hospital, which prompted the law. COPA was designed as a way to shield Mission from federal anti-trust regulators concerned that Mission might gain too much power over the local health care market, Paulus said.