‘Shocked, horrified’: Mission nurse speaks to Federal Trade Commission about HCA merger

By Web staff

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    ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — A Mission Health nurse was in the spotlight Thursday, April 14, talking about the impact of the merger with HCA.

Kelley Tyler, who has worked at Mission for nearly 40 years, is a trauma care nurse and a member of National Nurses United.

She spoke at a virtual listening forum Thursday held by the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department.

The forum looked at how mergers and acquisitions affect health care.

Tyler said the Mission takeover has had a negative impact on patients, staff and on the Western North Carolina community.

“Before HCA took over, Mission was a source of pride. It was also a draw for many of our older residents who had moved here for retirement, knowing there was an excellent health care system nearby,” Tyler said during the forum. “I’ve worked at Mission for over 37 years, and I’ve been shocked and horrified at the cuts in services and the rising costs for our patients since the takeover.”

Cherokee Emergency Physician Dr. Mitchell Li also spoke during the session.

HCA Healthcare spokesperson Nancy Lindell released the following statement to News 13 Thursday evening:

“If we had been invited to participate it would have been a privilege to share any of the numerous examples of support Mission Health has received since becoming part of HCA Healthcare.

Mission Health selected HCA Healthcare because we offered the financial stability to help preserve and expand high-quality care, and we are proud of many accomplishments, a few of which are listed below:

A year after joining HCA Healthcare, Mission Hospital received a Leapfrog A, including the best possible score of 100 points awarded for support for nursing workforce. This A grade places Mission Hospital among the best in the state for safety, a special achievement considering the size and complexity of the hospital.

In its first year since joining HCA Healthcare, Mission Health provided $100 million more in charity care than the previous year. For 2020, charity care topped $330 million at Mission Health.

HCA Healthcare has invested more than $300 million through 2021 and has already committed to an additional $300 million in capital spending for Mission Health in the coming years. This includes significant investments already made in our rural hospitals as well as added services, such as surgical services and urology, that previously were not available in some of those communities.

HCA Healthcare is building a new $68 million replacement hospital for Angel Medical Center in Franklin, NC that will open later this year, and last year we announced a $20 million expansion at Mission Hospital McDowell

In Asheville, we completed construction on the Mission Hospital North Tower, and we are significantly expanding behavioral health services by building a new $62 million behavioral health hospital scheduled to open in 2023.”

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