North Carolina recently approved Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth's certificate-of-need application to add 26 beds to its new hospital in Weaverville, according to the Citizen Times.
AdventHealth fended off competition from Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health and Asheville, N.C.-based Mission Health, part of HCA Healthcare, for the additional beds.
"This decision is going to increase competition in health care in western North Carolina, which will in turn decrease costs and improve quality for patients," North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein said in a Dec. 2 news release. "I called on NCDHHS to reject Mission's application for more beds so that another healthcare provider could grow its presence in western North Carolina. I'm hopeful that this will help people get higher-quality, more affordable care when they need it."
In a July 29 letter to the state department of health, Mr. Stein alleged that Mission's large market share for acute care services "makes it a poor candidate to promote competition in that region" and that the health system "is failing to provide safe, quality, accessible and affordable care in the region at its existing facilities."
A spokesperson for Mission told Becker's the health system believes it can best meet the growing need for complex medical and surgical services in the region.
Mission argued that the utilization of its flagship hospital's services is "very high, including services related to the ICU and adult medical and surgical beds," and the hospital accepts thousands of transfers from other hospitals in the region. Those transfers reflect a need for the addition of higher acuity beds and services offered by Mission, according to the health system.
The decision is another win for AdventHealth in its battle to limit Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA's growth in Western North Carolina. AdventHealth has appealed Mission's recent CON applications for freestanding emergency departments in the state and fought off HCA's appeal of a planned hospital with at least 67 beds in Buncombe County.
AdventHealth received approval in May to build a hospital in Weaverville. Mission previously appealed the state's initial approval of the hospital, leading to a trial last fall. Novant also wanted to build a 67-bed hospital in the area, but dropped out of the process.
The latest CON approval brings the planned Weaverville hospital's total licensed beds to 93. The $109 million facility will include a surgery suite, 12-bed emergency department, 13-bed labor and delivery unit and 12-bed intensive care unit. It is expected to open in October 2027.
Separately, in a Dec. 6 ruling, a North Carolina judge dismissed counterclaims filed by HCA against Mr. Stein in response to his lawsuit alleging the hospital operator breached its 2019 asset purchase agreement for Mission, according to Blue Ridge Now.
Mr. Stein, set to become North Carolina's governor, sued HCA in December 2023, claiming the system failed to uphold commitments to emergency, trauma, and oncology services outlined in the APA.
HCA, which acquired Mission for $1.5 billion in 2019, denied the breach, arguing the agreement did not mandate specific care standards, only that facilities and services remain available to medical staff. Mr. Stein countered that HCA misinterpreted the contract, citing evidence from patient experiences, news reports, and a federal investigation.
"We are confident that Mission has fulfilled its obligations under the Asset Purchase Agreement, and we intend to defend the lawsuit filed by the Attorney General aggressively," Nancy Lindell, a spokesperson for Mission, said in a statement shared with Becker's. "Unfortunately, the lawsuit continues to be a distraction from the important work that Mission continues to do in Western North Carolina."