From Staff Reports

 Once again, North Carolina Senator Julie Mayfield, D-Asheville, is calling on Nasheville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare to sell Asheville-based Mission Hospital.

“Mayfield and Reclaim HealthCare WNC, a regional healthcare coalition, spoke out Feb. 28 after a recent ‘preventable’ death took place in Mission Hospital’s emergency department,” Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) reported. “Just over a year ago, I stood at this podium sounding the alarm over the quality of care at Mission Hospital,” Mayfield said, referring to her previous request for HCA to sell Mission Hospital.

“Mayfield spoke when Mission was notified of non-compliance with federal standards involving ‘immediate jeopardy’ violations that put patients’ health and safety at risk,” News 13 added. 

Further, News 13 reported, “Other coalition members spoke at the briefing, including longtime Asheville internist Dr. Clay Ballantine. He shared a story of a patient’s concerns about getting admitted.

“‘He and his wife and their daughter who works at Mission refused to let me admit him to Mission,’ said Ballantine.

Also, Mission Hospital Emergency Department nurse Ashley Bunting said of recent revelations regarding the patient who died in the hospital’s care, “A patient who should have survived lost their life not because we weren’t skilled enough, not because we didn’t try, [but] because, in my opinion, we didn’t have the staff to care for them... That’s the reality of unsafe staffing. It could kill,” News 13 stated.