Dogwood Health Trust launches search for new independent monitor amid HCA controversy

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Dogwood Health Trust has begun its search for a new independent monitor.

On Tuesday, the trust announced that it had begun to accept proposals for independent monitor services.

The independent monitor, also known as the IM, oversees HCA Healthcare’s compliance to ensure it stays within its commitment to provide quality health care across Western North Carolina.

A news release explained that a change in the scope of the work for the independent monitor prompted the need for Dogwood to search for qualified firms.

The IM has four primary roles that include: HCA’s annual report evaluation, community engagement and education, engagement with the Attorney General’s Office, and continuous compliance evaluation.

When HCA bought Mission Health in 2019, HCA made 15 post-closing commitments, with one of them being the establishment of the role of the IM.

Dogwood is in charge of selecting the IM, subject to consent by HCA and the North Carolina Attorney General.

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding HCA over the last few months.

At the end of October, Attorney General Josh Stein sent a letter to Dogwood Health claiming that the organization was in breach of its contract. The letter claimed that HCA failed to comply with its obligations under the Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) that was signed when HCA acquired Mission Health in 2019.

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In December, Stein officially announced a lawsuit against HCA Healthcare.

Now, city of Brevard Mayor Maureen Copelof has weighed in on her experience with HCA, as Brevard has a lawsuit filed against HCA, as well.

Copelof said city officials have been very concerned about and dissatisfied with the service the community has received from HCA.

She said officials have had many meetings with HCA leadership and documented many issues and that now they need solutions.

Copelof said that after the first year of HCA’s ownership, the IM held a town hall meeting in Brevard.

“I was shocked, literally shocked. People were so upset they were in tears. They were so angry of what was happening with their health care and they turned to the independent monitor,” she said.

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Copelof said that is when she got involved because they wanted to see the IM hold HCA accountable.

The mayor said she was surprised when she saw the release that Dogwood was beginning the search for a new IM.

“I’m trying to figure out exactly what has changed. I can’t really tell what additional scope of work that they’ve added,” she said.

One of the most important things that the IM can do is to listen to the public, Copelof said.

“They’ve got to hold community meetings, and that’s one of the things that we’ve been demanding that they start to do,” she said.

Copelof said that overall she’s been very frustrated with the independent monitor.

“I really wanted them to look more deeply into what was happening, I wanted more community engagement. I wanted them to listen, and I wanted them to help document the problems even if it wasn’t part of the asset purchase agreement,” she said.

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Copelof said she’s tried to get the IM to look beyond the narrow reading of the scope of the job, and she hopes the new IM will bring change.

“I’m hoping they will be very diligent, very professional, that they will actively engage with the community, that they will be a resource that we can turn to when we feel that there’s an issue,” she said.

Copelof said having diligent oversight over the local hospital is critically important.

“We very much want to understand what the new role of the new independent monitor is going to be, and we look forward to working closely with whatever company is awarded that contract,” Copelof said.

Stein’s office released a statement regarding the latest development:

The Asset Purchase Agreement tasks Dogwood Health Trust with selecting an independent monitor to oversee HCA’s compliance with the APA. We look forward to working with the monitor that Dogwood selects to ensure that the people of western North Carolina receive quality health care.”

Dogwood declined an interview with News13 on Tuesday.

The trust will be accepting proposals through 5 p.m. Feb. 6. According to the news release, the selection of a specific awardee is anticipated to be announced by April 1, 2024.

Click here to read more on how the proposal works.