From Staff Reports 

Mission Health permanently closed its Asheville Specialty Hospital, the only long-term care facility of its kind in Western North Carolina, less than two months after suspending its services following Tropical Storm Helene. 

The closure leaves patients to seek care elsewhere, the Asheville Citizen Times reported on Nov. 25.

Asheville Specialty Hospital had 34 beds and included a comprehensive stroke center, dialysis services, physical and speech therapy, and traumatic brain injury rehabilitation, among other services.

“We have made the difficult decision to not reopen Asheville Specialty Hospital, a small, long-term acute care facility located inside the St. Joseph’s campus,” Mission Health spokesperson Nancy Lindell said Nov. 25. “We have had to focus on prioritizing our resources during and after Hurricane Helene to care for the most urgent medical needs of our community. Since Hurricane Helene, ASH employees have been caring for patients at Mission Hospital and that continues to be where they are most needed.”