One of the ways that the independent monitor answered questions about charity care is they explained that when Mission was being purchased by HCA they had the option to move forward with Mission’s charity care policy. And instead, the board at Mission felt that HCA’s policy was actually going to cover patients better. And so they did make changes to that charity care policy to go with HCA’s policy instead.
Here’s how Ron Winters, principal of Gibbins Advisors, talked about charity care at the virtual meeting:
“It is difficult to qualify for charity care, and until you qualify, they have the right to ask you to pay a deposit and you don’t have the right to get it back,” said Winters.
Concerns go unanswered during HCA monitor meeting
The public had a lot of questions during an April 7 virtual meeting regarding Mission Health’s services and operations since being bought by for-profit HCA Healthcare in 2019. Unfortunately, Gibbins Advisors the independent monitor hired to ensure HCA fulfills its contractual obligations couldn’t provide them with many answers.
While the team of healthcare experts and accountants with Gibbins Advisors say they are continuously monitoring HCA operations at Mission-affiliated hospitals in Western North Carolina, their contractual scope is limited to the 15 commitments outlined in the purchase agreement between Mission and HCA, which was ultimately signed off on by Attorney General Josh Stein.
Record number of COVID-19 cases at Mission hospitals my40.tv - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from my40.tv Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
They say hindsight is 2020 and that is definitely true as we’re all eager to put this disaster of a year in the dumpster and light it on fire.
While many of us remember way back in January feeling like 2020 would be our year we just couldn’t predict it would be our year of high unemployment, isolation, fear, sickness and uncertainties.
All we can hope for now is that 2021 will bring an end to this pandemic and that we’ve all learned some hard lessons we can take along with us in this uncertain future.
But before we move on, The Smoky Mountain News once again takes a look back to reflect on the last year of news it’s been a doozy. Some of the headlines that have graced our pages could pass for a satire headline from The Onion, but sadly, they’re all too real. However devastating and infuriating the news has been this year, it’s still important to find a little bit of humor in the absurd.