Judge OKs new Western NC hospital with ER north of Asheville; could be expanded to 93 beds
A judge has paved the way for a new hospital with at least 67 beds in northern Buncombe County.
The judge in the North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings upheld a state decision to give AdventHealth the right to build the hospital it hopes to grow to 93 beds. The Florida-based nonprofit currently runs a 103-bed hospital, AdventHealth Hendersonville, in northern Henderson County.
“AdventHealth joins with the people of Western North Carolina to celebrate this decision and the positive impact this new hospital will have on the area’s health care,” Brandon Nudd, AdventHealth Hendersonville president and CEO said in a release. “We are excited to reach this point in the work to provide whole-person care to the people of Buncombe, Graham, Madison and Yancey Counties.”
The hospital is to be located on 30 acres just northwest of Weaverville and feature "leading-edge technology," surgery services, a labor and delivery unit and an emergency department, Nudd said in the May 10 release.
Nudd said AdventHealth would select an architect and general contractor "over the next few weeks." AdventHealth spokesperson Victoria Dunkle said once construction started the hospital would be completed in 18 to 24 months, but declined to go into greater detail on a timeline or to estimate cost.
To add certain health care facilities and services, North Carolina and other states require Certificates of Need. The CON process is meant to control health care costs by preventing what proponents say is unnecessary duplication − though critics say it can reduce health care availability.
The state had awarded AdventHealth a CON for the 67-bed facility, but Mission Health, owned by the Tennessee for-profit HCA, appealed the decision to the Administrative Office of the courts. Mission, the largest health provider in the area with its 850-bed flagship Asheville hospital, has the right to appeal the May 10 decision.
Mission spokesperson Nancy Lindell declined May 13 to comment as to whether the company would appeal. Instead Lindell issued a statement saying Mission was "disappointed in the Office of Administrative Hearings’ decision to uphold the awarding of 67 acute care beds to AdventHealth."
"This will not solve the need to transport high-level, critical care patients out of the area when our region’s advanced care beds - only available at Mission Hospital - are full," Lindell said.
IN response, AdventHealth spokesperson Dunkle said the provider "listened to the community."
"The state agency agreed with the community. The judge agreed with the state agency. HCA/Mission’s arguments were found to be without merit and AdventHealth is moving forward to meet the community’s needs," she said.
AdventHealth hopes to grow the hospital to 93 beds by winning a CON for another 26 beds. Competing for that is also the Winston-Salem based nonprofit Novant that wants to build a cancer-focused medical center just southwest of Asheville near Biltmore Park.
The advances by Novant and AdventHealth in WNC's health care market come as Mission faces problems, including federal sanctions following four patient deaths and a lawsuit by N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein alleging failure to maintain levels of emergency and cancer care promised by HCA before its 2019 purchase of the nonprofit Mission.
Stein praised the May 10 ruling.
“The Court’s decision will increase health care competition in western North Carolina, which can lead to better care and lower prices. I commend the career attorneys at the Department of Justice and Department of Health and Human Services who successfully fought on patients’ behalf," he said in a statement.
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Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Judge OKs Western NC hospital, baby labor delivery, ER, near Asheville
