Mission Hospital McDowell in Marion, N.C., is seeking a new CEO.
The hospital, part of Asheville, N.C.-based Mission Health, posted a job advertisement for the CEO position on Feb. 15, seeking candidates with master's degrees in business administration, healthcare administration or related fields and 2 years or more of experience in a COO or CEO role.
Tonia Hale, CEO and CNO of Mission's Blue Ridge Regional Hospital in Spruce Pine, N.C., was listed as interim CEO of Mission Hospital McDowell at the time of publication. Mission Health did not respond to Becker's inquiry about the CEO transition or past Mission Hospital McDowell CEO Marsha Myers, who took on the role in 2022 and still had the title active on her LinkedIn at the time of publication.
Mission Hospital McDowell is a 65-bed community hospital about 40 miles outside of Asheville, N.C., where Mission Health's flagship Mission Hospital is based. The 815-bed facility is also seeing changes to leadership, with CMO Anthony Spensieri, MD, departing March 1.
The leadership changes unfold as Mission Health, part of Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, faces increased scrutiny about its clinical quality and operations.
CMS notified the hospital's leadership in early February that the facility is in immediate jeopardy and must take action to avert the loss of federal funding. Details on what led to the immediate jeopardy are limited; the hospital has submitted a corrective action plan.
Late last year, North Carolina's attorney general filed suit against HCA, alleging the for-profit hospital operator has cut emergency and cancer care at Mission Health and lapsed on its 2019 purchase agreement in doing so. This month, HCA has filed a motion with the North Carolina Business Court, asking it to dismiss the claims.