4 patients died at Mission Hospital due to missteps, federal government report reveals
ASHEVILLE – A report obtained by the Citizen Times Feb. 15 detailing what led the federal government to declare an “Immediate Jeopardy” situation at Mission Hospital reveals that four patients died due to missteps at the hospital.
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services declared the Immediate Jeopardy designation following seven incidents that occurred across a 18-month span at the hospital. The incidents pertained to violations in federal patients’ rights, nursing and emergency service conditions for Medicare participation between April 2022 to October 2023.
CMS also found deficiencies related to the hospital’s governing body, responsibility for patient care, quality assurance and performance improvement, staffing and delivery of care, supervision of contract staff, administration of drugs, laboratory services, among other violations.
Mission Hospital 2567 With POC FINAL DRAFT 2.12.24 by Mitchell Black on Scribd
“The hospital nursing staff failed to ensure a safe environment for the delivery of care to emergency department patients by failing to accept patients on arrival to the emergency department resulting in delays or failure to triage, assess, and implement orders,” the report read.
Mission Hospital’s plan for correcting the issues is included in the 384-page report. It specifically notes many hospital executives who contributed to the review and implementation of the plan to fix the issues.
Wait times: Patients arrive at Mission Hospital in ambulances, then the waiting begins
"We are pleased that CMS has accepted our Plan of Correction. Mission Health began implementing changes based on preliminary findings shared in December," Mission Health spokesperson Nancy Lindell said in a Feb. 15 statement. "These findings are not the standard of care we expect, nor that our patients deserve, and we are working diligently to ensure Mission Hospital successfully serves the needs of the Western North Carolina community."
Nurses say they have been left out of conversations about improvements.
"Staff nurses have had zero involvement in the resolution of the deficiencies," Mission Hospital Intensive Care Unite nurse Kelly Coward told the Citizen Times Feb. 15. "We have not been asked anything."
According to a Feb. 1 letter from CMS declaring the Immediate Jeopardy situation, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will visit the hospital again to determine “whether the conditions that constituted immediate jeopardy have been removed and the hospital is back in compliance.”
If the hospital fails to remove the immediate jeopardy situation, CMS will notify the Mission that it will terminate its Medicare and Medicaid funding.
More: After a 10-month delay, Mission Hospital fulfilled the terms of ex-employee lawsuit
More: Mission Hospital meets federal deadline for submitting plan to correct immediate jeopardy
Update: This story has been updated to reflect the number of patient deaths described in the report.
Mitchell Black covers Buncombe County and health care for the Citizen Times. Email him at mblack@citizentimes.com or follow him on Twitter @MitchABlack. Please help support local journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Mission Hospital federal government report reveals 4 patient deaths
