Mission now Level I trauma center; could still face Medicare cutoff
This story has been updated to include a statement from the American College of Surgeons.
ASHEVILLE – Mission Hospital has become Western North Carolina’s only Level l trauma center, despite immediate jeopardy citations — the result of deficiencies regulators say have led to deaths — and a pending re-survey of deficiencies wherein it could lose Medicare and Medicaid funding.
The American College of Surgeons has officially verified Mission Hospital as a Level I trauma center, the highest recognition a trauma provider can receive in the United States, the hospital announced Dec. 3. It is now one of seven hospitals in the state with the designation. The survey from the College occurred in September and the verification runs for a three-year period.
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“While our review and verification is confined only to trauma care, we often see that as a result of the rigorous standards and the performance improvement program required for trauma, that other hospital programs and patients within that same organization ultimately benefit, something we refer to as the halo effect of trauma center verification,” said Avery Nathens, the Medical Director for Trauma Quality Programs at the American College of Surgeons, in a statement to the Citizen Times
The verification comes after the hospital was recently cited with immediate jeopardy by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the most serious deficiency regulators can assign. The citation came in October after a late-September survey from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services found deficiencies had led to two patient deaths over the summer, had led to misidentification of patients and failure to implement COVID-19 precautions.
In a Nov. 21 letter from CMS to Mission Hospital CEO Greg Lowe, the agency said immediate jeopardy had been removed but that the hospital could still be terminated from its Medicare and Medicaid provider agreement based on additional findings from the state health agency. The termination could lead to the disastrous loss of Medicare and Medicaid funding.
Surveyors from NCDHHS had visited Nov. 7, with their report indicating the immediate jeopardy had been removed, the letter from CMS said. However, remaining deficiencies meant the hospital still did not meet Medicare Conditions of Participation and that it still faced potential termination from the program. Based on the survey, CMS regulators said the hospital still faced noncompliance with regard to its governing body, patients’ rights, nursing services and emergency services.
In a Nov. 21 email from Lowe, provided to the Citizen Times by Mission spokesperson Nancy Lindell, he said CMS had removed immediate jeopardy but did not mention that additional items of noncompliance posed the potential termination from the Medicare and Medicaid program. Instead, Lowe said the re-evaluation “was expected.”
“As was expected following the immediate jeopardy finding, we will submit an updated plan of correction for approval and undergo re-survey by January 15, 2026. Our teams already have action plans in place to address remaining items identified during the original survey,” Lowe wrote in a Nov. 21 email.
A new date for Medicare and Medicaid termination was set for Jan. 15, 2026, with a plan of correction required to be submitted by Dec. 1. If the hospital does not come within compliance by the deadline, it would face termination from its agreement. The Citizen Times has requested the plan of correction, which typically does not become public record until several weeks after their submittal.
The Citizen Times requested confirmation of the agency’s letter to Mission through a CMS spokesperson on Nov. 24 but did not receive it until filing a new request for the letter on Dec. 2. The immediate jeopardy citation was the hospital’s third since HCA Healthcare purchased the hospital in 2019 and came as local leaders have grown frustrated with quality of care, frequently citing lack of staffing as a major problem at the hospital.
Responding to questions from the Citizen Times about the Mission’s Level I verification in a statement, HCA Healthcare spokesperson Kate Czerwinski called the College’s survey “the culminating point of a multi-year process of verification.”
“In order to meet the requirements, Mission Hospital has operated as a Level I center leading up to our survey period. This includes the establishment of a trauma research program as the primary difference from the Level II status. Mission has been driving advancements in trauma care through this research, seeing tremendous growth over the last few years,” Czerwinski said.
In a news release on the announcement, Lowe said the “verification not only signifies Mission Hospital’s critical role in delivering timely, coordinated care, it solidifies Mission’s high standard of readiness.”
“When the unthinkable happens, families across Western North Carolina can take comfort in knowing that world-class trauma care is right here at home. This milestone reflects the dedication, training and compassion of every Mission team member,” Lowe said in the Dec. 3 news release.
Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com or message will_hofmann.01 on Signal.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Mission now Level I trauma center; could still face Medicare cutoff
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