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Has until Feb. 24 to fix deficiencies in care, or risks losing Medicare and Medicaid funding
From Staff Reports
Mission Hospital, based in Asheville, has until Feb. 24 to fix deficiencies in care, a letter from U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services states, the website Asheville Watchdog reported on Feb. 5.
Meanwhile, “Mission Hospital confirmed on Feb. 7 that it had met the deadline to submit a plan to correct safety concerns identified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,†Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) reported on Feb. 7.
Seeking an interview or statement for more details, the Daily Planet reached out on Feb. 9 to the Nancy Lindell, director of public and media relations at Mission’s Health.
Shortly thereafter on Feb. 9, Lindell emailed the Daily Planet the following statement in response to the crisis that Mission Hospital is facing:
“As we stated last week, there are no excuses for our patients receiving anything other than exceptional care, and Mission Health has already taken action based on the preliminary findings shared in December.
“We are pleased to hear from our EMS partners and patients that those actions are yielding positive results, including decreased wait times for care.
“We respect the process of these surveys and have submitted our corrective action plan to CMS in accordance with their deadline.
“Again, these findings are not the standard of care we expect, nor that our patients deserve, and we are working diligently to ensure Mission Hospital successfully serves the needs of the Western North Carolina community.
â€Meanwhile, Asheville Watchdog reported that details of exactly what caused “immediate jeopardy†to patients have yet to be made public.
CMS’ letter — dated Feb. 1 and addressed to Mission CEO Chad Patrick — “is the federal agency’s official notification to the HCA Healthcare-owned hospital, informing leadership that it is in immediate jeopardy, the most serious deficiency possible for a hospital,†the Asheville Watchdog noted.
The Watchdog story added, “The letter also starts a 23-day clock for Mission to fix the problems or risk losing its Medicare and Medicaid funding, which would threaten its financial viability.
â€The CMS letter stated the following:“(U)nless the immediate jeopardy conditions are removed within 23 days from the date of this notice (February 24, 2024), the Medicare provider agreement between Memorial Mission Hospital and Asheville Surgery Center and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services will be terminated.
“In order to do so, you must submit a Plan of Correction (PoC) by no later than 5 days from the date of this notice (February 6, 2024), describing in detail the specific corrective measures taken to resolve these deficiencies. Should we not hear from you, we will assume that the situation has not been corrected.
â€Further, Asheville Watchdog reported that “HCA Healthcare North Carolina Division President Greg Lowe announced the finding of immediate jeopardy in an email to Mission’s staff Feb. 2. The letter stated ‘now that we have the report from CMS, we will submit our corrective action plan by their deadline.
’“If CMS does not accept Mission’s plan, the hospital would be forced to revise or rewrite its initial submission.
“The notification came 44 days after inspectors from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, on behalf of CMS, recommended the hospital be placed in immediate jeopardy, citing nine deficiencies related to incidents occurring over 19 months. The Watchdog was first to report the recommendation Jan. 11 and the news that NCDHHS’s inspections had led to two immediate jeopardy identifications, one on Dec. 1 and another Dec. 9.
“Those two identifications of immediate jeopardy were based on nine incidents that happened over 19 months between April 2022 and November 2023.
The specifics of the incidents have yet to made public. However, the CMS letter mentions six conditions in which Mission failed to meet standards: governing body, emergency services, nursing services, patients’ rights, quality assurance, and laboratory services.â€
Meanwhile, News 13 on Feb. 7 stated that “the latest reprimand letter from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid is the second such letter threatening to cut Medicare funding eligibility in four years. News 13 Investigates found in 2020 Mission faced a similar CMS threat to lose federal funding amid other patient safety problems.
"On 2020, health officials found a patient who had fallen and was hurt during a procedure at Mission. Health officials said Mission failed the patient’s right to safe care. Investigators cited another case that year that involved a patient released from the ER who died by suicide days after being discharged. A CMS letter to Mission threatened to terminate Mission’s Medicare payout contract, stating emergency department staff failed to provide an appropriate medical screening.â€
News 13 also reported the following:
“Attorney Knicole Emanuel, who specializes in health care regulatory compliance and often defends hospitals facing Medicare terminations like the one Mission faces, said the hospital’s status is categorized as immediate jeopardy and is serious.
“‘I would say there is absolutely a chance that the funds are pulled from the hospital,’ Emanuel said.
“Emanuel, who has represented hospitals that have been closed because of patient safety conditions, said hospitals have legal recourse to stay open and push back on Medicare challenges.
“‘What you need to do if this is going to happen is get a preliminary injunction in federal court,’ Emanuel said.
“She said if Mission’s Plan of Correction is accepted the hospital has time to then meet requirements, get in compliance and not lose funding.
"Medicare and Medicaid are vital to a hospital’s reimbursements and services,’ she said.
“Emanuel said she has seen hospitals closed after being deemed in immediate jeopardy by CMS.“‘They have been all over, especially in rural areas and this (Asheville) is also a rural area,’ she said.
“Emanuel thinks it’s important hospital administrators show transparency when censured by federal healthcare officials in such a serious way.
“‘'For the most part, if there is an accusation by CMS that there’s immediate jeopardy within a hospital, I would think that a hospital as a public entity would want to be transparent,’ Emanuel said.â€
At the end of its report, News 13 stated that it once again requested an interview on Feb. 7 with Mission Hospital CEO Chad Patrick “regarding the current situation, asking what the hospital’s plan of action was amid public backlash, and was denied availability.â€
During a news conference on Feb. 6, local leaders “said they were confident the hospital won’t be closed,†News 13 added.
After its Mission Hospital story on Feb. 7, News 13 included the following in its “comment bubble:â€
• H8LBRLS — “Why has Chad Patrick not been terminated? He is a failure as CEO.â€
• ashevillebites — “Terminated? In HCA’s eyes, he is the perfect CEO for Mission. He makes them and their investors a lot of money and cuts costs by cutting staffing levels to the bone. He is a “company man†towing (toeing) the company line. This minor nuisance of a lawsuit (in HCA’s eyes ) and threats from CMS will pass and they will be back to business as usual soon’.
• H8LBRLS — “Yes, he fires doctors that butt hurt him — and then can’t find doctors to cover the cases!!â€
After its Mission Hospital story on Feb. 5, Asheville Watchdog included the following in its comment section:
• Andy Reed — “My honest, cynical reaction is this:
“Do you think they give a damn? HCA made $1.6 billion in net profits just this past quarter, which is $100 million more than they paid for Mission in the first place. Just above the fine they had to pay for ripping off Medicare and Medicaid 10 or 12 years ago.
“These people are corporate rip-off artists; that’s who they are, and what they do.
“Like D.J. Trump, they’ll delay, delay, delay — and finally pay a fine and call it the cost of doing business. Then they’ll raise prices to recover that cost from us.
“Thank god for nonprofit Greenville (S.C.) Hospital (Prisma Org.) and Advent (AdventHealth Hendersonville).†|
