The American College of Surgeons (ACS) has named Asheville’s Mission Hospital a Level I trauma center, making it the only medical facility in Western North Carolina to receive the designation.
The news comes even as Mission, which is owned by HCA Healthcare, continues to face scrutiny over patient safety and complaints of understaffing, particularly in its emergency department.
“This verification not only signifies Mission Hospital’s critical role in delivering timely, coordinated care, it solidifies Mission’s high standard of readiness,” Mission Health President and CEO Greg Lowe said in a statement Wednesday. “When the unthinkable happens, families across Western North Carolina can take comfort in knowing that world-class trauma care is right here at home.”
Mission said the ACS completed a survey of the hospital in September and the facility now is verified as a Level I trauma center for the next three years. Currently, there are only six other Level I trauma centers in the state.
According to the ACS guidelines, Level I trauma centers must be able to provide “comprehensive trauma care for all injuries.” Mission was previously a Level II trauma center, a category of hospital that ACS says must be able to provide “initial definitive trauma care for a wide range of injuries.”
Mission Hospital recently faced its third “immediate jeopardy” designation, the most serious sanction a hospital can receive. According to North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services documents obtained by BPR, the designation was due to Mission’s failure “to have systems in place and followed to ensure continuous monitoring of a patient during transport, to follow established telemetry escalation processes and to promptly correct and mitigate risks related to patient identification.”
“The effects of these practices resulted in an unsafe environment for patients,” state inspectors concluded.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners sent a letter in August to the state Office of Emergency Medical Services voicing "concerns about whether the hospital can safely or sustainably meet the responsibilities of a Level I Trauma Center."
"Mission Health and HCA Healthcare have had numerous, well-documented operational and staffing issues in recent years," the letter reads. "We urge OEMS to fully scrutinize whether Mission’s ER staffing, care culture, and recent performance align with Level I standards, and whether a new status designation might exacerbate ongoing issues."
According to the Asheville Watchdog, the letter was sent after the deadline set by the state for the county to express any misgivings. Even so, a commission member said the state confirmed it would consider the letter, the Watchdog reported.
The “immediate jeopardy” designation was lifted last month after a re-inspection. But a spokesperson for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) told BPR in an email that while the “immediate jeopardy” has been removed, Mission “remains out of compliance with Medicare requirements” and must still submit a suitable plan to address those problems.
“This means that while the most serious and immediate threats to patient safety have been addressed, the hospital must continue working to achieve full compliance with all applicable Conditions of Participation,” the spokesperson said. “The hospital must submit an acceptable plan of correction that addresses the Conditions of Participation that remain out of compliance.”
