The Buncombe County (North Carolina) Board of Commissioners is urging the division of health service regulation to approve a nonprofit acute healthcare choice to build a 67-bed facility and to reject the plan of Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, owner of the county's Mission Hospital.
The 2022 State Medical Facilities Plan found a need for 67 acute care beds in the area, which the board said it supports in a June 7 letter.
However, it is requesting the division to approve a nonprofit acute care choice, such as Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth or Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health.
"Since 1995, Mission has operated as the sole hospital provider in Buncombe County," the letter stated. "After the not-for-profit healthcare system was sold to for-profit HCA in 2019, residents have been increasingly vocal of their desire for improved access and patient choice."
AdventHealth and HCA Healthcare both said in April they plan to submit applications for the beds, MY40 reported.