The foundation tasked with hiring an independent monitor to oversee HCA Healthcare is seeking new applicants for the role, which has been expanded amid an escalating legal battle over patient quality of care at its Western North Carolina facilities. As part of the terms of the sale of Mission Health to HCA, an independent monitor evaluates whether HCA is abiding by its commitments to maintain certain facilities and services.
Dogwood Health Trust announced the move earlier this week. It comes less than a month after state Attorney General Josh Stein (D) filed a lawsuit against HCA, accusing the country’s largest for-profit hospital company of breaching the terms of the 2019 agreement to purchase Asheville-based Mission Health System.
In a statement to BPR Friday, Dr. Susan Mims, CEO of Dogwood Health Trust, said the independent monitor will now be expected to engage with the attorney general’s office in addition to conducting increased education and community engagement activities.
“As the environment has shifted over these five years so has the work of the IM,” Mims said, referring to the independent monitor. “In response to listening to our communities and through collaboration with the Attorney General’s Office, Dogwood has asked the IM to add responsibilities beyond what is in the current scope of work.”
Mims said the work of the independent monitor had also previously included reporting on $232 million in capital expenditures that HCA had agreed to as part of the 2019 asset purchase agreement. HCA has “fulfilled its capital expenditure obligations under the APA, so services related to that report are no longer needed,” Mims said.
The current independent monitor, Gibbins Advisors, did not respond to a request for comment from BPR on whether it plans to apply for the expanded role. The firm told the Asheville Watchdog this week that it was reviewing the material and that Dogwood had encouraged it to apply.
Mission Health System had previously been a nonprofit health organization. It was sold to HCA for $1.5 billion in 2019, with the foundation Dogwood Health Trust created to handle the proceeds from the sale. In the years since, HCA has faced a growing – and increasingly public – number of complaints that it has prioritized profits over patient care.
Many patients have complained of inadequate staffing at Mission Health hospitals, leading to long wait times for medical appointments and at the emergency room. HCA has also weathered criticism for the loss of much of its medical oncology team at Mission Hospital.
Stein, who is running for governor, highlighted the concerns in December at an Asheville press conference where he announced the lawsuit. HCA is expected to file a response this month.
According to a Request for Proposals posted on Dogwood’s website, applicants for the independent monitor role have until 5 p.m. on February 6 to apply, with an anticipated start date of April 1. No details were provided on how much Dogwood will pay the selected firm.
