BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — Competition is heating up among three major hospitals that are striving to expand local healthcare services by landing the state license to add 26 beds.
The HCA-owned Mission Hospital, AdventHealth and Novant Health are competing and have submitted voluminous applications. Each hospital has the goal of convincing state officials that their pitch is the best to accommodate and best serve the Asheville area community.
The state’s Certificate of Need determination encompasses servicing Buncombe, Graham, Madison and Yancey Counties. But all three want to build or expand in Buncombe, which has the largest population to serve within a twenty-mile radius.
ADVENTHEALTH ANNOUNCES NEW LOCATION FOR BUNCOMBE COUNTY HOSPITAL
Novant’s application states it wants to build a $249-million-dollar hospital focused on cancer treatments along Long Shoals Road. Novant’s application says the group is moving forward with a medical office building on the site regardless of whether the state approves them getting the 26 hospital beds.
Novant states in its application that the office building will house an infusion clinic with 20 stations, with plans to place a chemotherapy pharmacy and an oncology residency-trained pharmacist on site.
Mission Hospital made news earlier this year as oncologists affiliated with Mission publicly expressed patient safety and medication concerns at the hospital.
“My feeling is we need more competition in the region,” said State Senator Julie Mayfield, who represents Buncombe County. “Anything the state can do to foster that competition is helpful.”
ADVENTHEALTH APPLIES FOR 26-BED EXPANSION AT ANTICIPATED WEAVERVILLE HOSPITAL
Mayfield has led the call for HCA to address patient care problems at Mission.
The opportunity to bring those additional 26 beds to AdventHealth would mean we could advance the scope and scale of care,” said Victoria Dunkle, spokeswoman for AdventHealth. “We would have the possibility of having more cancer services available in the new hospital.
The newly-planned hospital is in Weaverville and has a license for 67 beds. AdventHealth hopes to land the additional expansion and license for 26 more beds.
In its application, Mission Hospital states it would spend $1.6 million for the proposed 26-bed expansion inside its current buildings in Asheville.
NOVANT HEALTH ANNOUNCES PLANS TO APPLY FOR 26-BED HOSPITAL IN BUNCOMBE COUNTY
“Mission consistently has high utilization of its beds, and is often so full it cannot accept all higher acuity transfers from other hospitals,” the application stated.
The application goes on to say that Mission Hospital only needs to do minimal renovation to expand with 26 beds.
“Mission proposes to bring the 26 beds online by July 1, 2025,” reads the application. “This would be far faster than the construction of any new hospital or facility.”
All three hospital groups concur with the state that population growth that includes an aging population warrants bed expansion.
The public is invited to a hearing on August 19 at 11 a.m. at AB Tech’s Ferguson Auditorium.
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