ASHEVILLE – The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services identified multiple lapses in patient safety that occurred at HCA Healthcare-owned Mission Hospital over the summer, according to a letter the department sent to the hospital in October.
The findings, which followed a September survey conducted by the state health department, could lead to federal regulators placing Mission Hospital in “immediate jeopardy,” which is the most serious deficiency regulators can assign and can result in the loss of Medicare and Medicaid payments to a hospital.
The state health department notified Mission Hospital CEO Greg Lowe of the findings and its immediate jeopardy recommendation in an Oct. 10 letter obtained by the Citizen Times, and first reported by Asheville Watchdog.
Mission Hospital is seen from downtown in Asheville, August 15, 2024.
During the survey, which was conducted over two five-day spans in September, investigators identified multiple instances where hospital staff failed to provide a safe environment for patients. According to the letter, the incidents occurred on Sept. 18, Sept. 4, Aug. 19 and July 26.
The letter outlines incidents related to patient identification, patient monitoring, and infection prevention practices. Additionally, according to the letter, “(n)ursing staff failed to respond to and assess a telemetry patient with emergent needs” and “failed to ensure safe and appropriate transport and continuous pulse oximetry monitoring for a patient during transport.”
“The effect of these practices resulted in an unsafe environment for patients,” wrote Lea Gillis, a nurse consultant with the state health department.
In the letter, Gillis said Mission had remedied issues around its infection prevention practices.
Mission Health CEO Greg Lowe on Dec. 11, 2024.
Katie Czerwinski, a spokesperson for HCA/Mission Health, did not provide comment before deadline.
According to the letter, the state forwarded its findings and immediate jeopardy recommendation to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees CMS, told the Citizen Times in an Oct. 17 email that media responses might be delayed because of the government shutdown.
The immediate jeopardy notification came less than a month after a coalition of local elected officials, physicians, nurses, clergy and others held a press conference pushing for Mission Hospital to release more information related to what the group claimed were preventable deaths that occurred over the summer. The group, Reclaim Healthcare WNC, said the deaths were related to a “breakdown” in the hospital’s telemetry system, which remotely tracks patient health data, like oxygen levels.
Earlier this year, the group held a similar press conference following a patient death in a Mission Hospital emergency department bathroom, which Reclaim Healthcare WNC suggested was related to understaffing. One Mission staff member was terminated after an internal investigation, the Citizen Times previously reported. The group later reported several incidents tied to claims of substandard patient care to the state health department for investigation.
In 2024, Mission was placed in immediate jeopardy following four patient deaths and violations of Medicare regulations, the Citizen Times previously reported. By the end of February that year, regulators had found that Mission Hospital had addressed the conditions cited and removed them from immediate jeopardy.
This story will be updated.
More: Citing recent ‘preventable’ deaths, group calls for more staffing, transparency at Mission
More: ‘When nurses are ignored, patients suffer:’ Coalition demands HCA add staff after Mission ER death
Jacob Biba is the Helene recovery reporter at the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Email him at jbiba@citizentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: NC Health Dept. saw multiple patient safety issues at Mission Hospital
