From Staff Reports 

Asheville-based Mission Health's “immediate jeopardy” status has been lifted, federal officials have confirmed, Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) reported on Feb. 28.

Specifically, patients at Mission Health are no longer in "immediate jeopardy," according to federal officials. News 13 confirmed this through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The agency sent a letter to Mission Health on Feb. 23, saying the following:

“Our office notified you on February 1, 2024, of your hospital’s violations at 42 CFR Part 482 and our intent to terminate Memorial Mission Hospital and Asheville Surgery Center’s participation in the Medicare program on February 24, 2024, if the immediate jeopardy was not removed. 

We are suspending this termination action pending our review of the February 23, 2024, follow-up revisit survey.”

Therefore, the 23-day termination of Medicare's funding is no longer moving forward.

Mission Health's plan of correction has been accepted and the hospital will have 90 days to complete those actions and get back into compliance.

News 13 noted that it reached out to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services for clarification on a letter sent to Mission Health on Feb. 28. A spokesperson responded by email, saying:

“DHSR did recommend the removal of the Immediate Jeopardy, and recommended that CMS determine it was removed as of Feb. 23, 2024.

“DHSR also recommends to CMS that Mission HCA has 90 days, which started Feb. 1, 2024, to correct other areas of non-compliance (those listed in the letter from DHSR to Mission dated Feb. 28, 2024).

Meanwhile, state Attorney General Josh Stein said, "The plan has been approved by CMS but now they have to execute it and implement it. and CMS is obviously going to keep a close eye on what's going on at the hospital." 

News 13 noted that “Mission Health also faces a lawsuit filed by Stein that alleges the hospital broke its contract by cutting services and decreasing the quality of care. The attorney general says his big concern is whether Mission fixes the problems permanently.”

“What I don’t want them to do is to get to a place where they are doing fine, for a period of 1, 2, or 3 months or however long and then immediately fall back to the poor quality of care they were providing before, that’s why a court order is very important,” Stein said.

News 13 added that it “has talked with both patients listed in the lawsuit, along with a former doctor who contributed to the lawsuit who described how serious the situation has become.”

The Daily Planet contacted Mission Health spokeswoman Nancy Lindell seeking comment on “the latest” in the twists and turns in the Mission Hospital saga on March 8 — and she emailed the newspaper the following statement shortly thereafter: 

“We are pleased that the State surveyors found Mission Health to be in compliance with the corrective action plan previously accepted by CMS, and who are recommending removal of the immediate jeopardy. 

“We appreciate the expertise of all the surveyors present this week who took the time to thoroughly review our compliance. 

“We are also grateful to all of our colleagues who come to the hospital every day committed to giving their best for our patients. 

“We are especially appreciative of the countless members of our teams from numerous departments who came together over the past several weeks to help explore and develop ways that we could provide more expedited and better care in the Emergency Department.

“The results of their collective efforts have been noticed by patients, families, and EMS — in addition to the surveyors. We will continue to provide quality care to everyone who visits our hospital.”

Later on March 8 afternoon, the Daily Planet also emailed Lindell seeking a statement from Mission responding to a News 13 report, posted at 3:40 p.m. March 8, and headlined “Mission Health still at jeopardy of losing CMS funding.”

Lindell then responded with a second statement — on behalf of Mission Health — to the newspaper, asserting the following: 

“Mission’s status is the same now as it was on February 23, when the immediate jeopardy was removed. 

“This new letter is just part of the ongoing process and restates what was in the initial findings. 

“The 90-day extension is simply to ensure ongoing sustainability with the already-accepted plan of correction.

“This is not abnormal. 

“We remain in close communication with the agency, and we will resubmit the approved plan of correction.”

Conversely, News 13 reported that “local elected officials and medical leaders in the community are saying that plan does not do enough to fix the issues facing the hospital.”

To that end, following is the full statement from CMS:

“The following is provided on background attributable to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) or a CMS spokesperson: Ensuring the safety of our nation’s health care facilities is a top priority for CMS. Facilities are required to meet certain health and safety standards to be certified to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

“From Nov. 13, 2023, through Dec. 9, 2023, the North Carolina State Survey Agency conducted a complaint survey at Memorial Mission Hospital and Asheville Surgery Center. This survey found that the hospital was out of compliance with the Medicare Conditions of Participation, and that the noncompliance posed immediate jeopardy to patients’ health and safety. The North Carolina State Survey Agency recommended a 23-day termination due to the deficiencies.

“The hospital had until Feb. 6, 2024, to submit a written plan of correction, describing in detail the specific measures taken to resolve the deficient practices. The plan of correction was submitted and accepted.

“A revisit survey was conducted on Feb. 23, 2024. The survey information is being compiled and reviewed. The survey results are not publicly available until 30 days after the report is finalized and issued to Memorial Mission Hospital and Asheville Surgery Center, or once CMS receives an acceptable plan of correction from the facility (after the report is issued), whichever comes first.

“The survey did determine the immediate jeopardy has been removed, and the hospital will have 90 days to complete the specific corrective actions and achieve compliance with the regulations. A copy of the recent letter to the facility, regarding suspending the 23-day termination action, is attached.

“To protect the integrity of our survey process, we are unable to provide additional information at this time.”

Meanwhile, Asheville Watchdog reported the following on Feb. 28:

“While the CMS letter confirmed the immediate jeopardy had been removed, it said nothing about Mission’s compliance with its corrective plan.

“A coalition of physicians, patients advocates, and elected officials has roundly criticized the plan, issued after CMS found an array of failures in hospital leadership and procedures that had contributed to the deaths of four patients and injured others. The coalition has demanded to know why the plan doesn’t mandate the hiring of more staff, among other issues....”

For example, Asheville Watchdog noted, a letter from the coalition to Mark Benton, NCDHHS chief deputy secretary for health, stated the following: 

“These solutions are also more focused on individuals being the problem rather than the systemic lack of staff and resources.”

Also, Asheville Watchdog reported that the coalition’s letter stated the following:

“The POC (plan of correction) does not address what we believe to be the primary driver in each of the Immediate Jeopardy situations (and many of the other cases discussed in the CMS report): the lack of adequate, experienced staffing.”