By Greg Lowe, President, North Carolina Division
Reflecting on the past year, I’m immensely proud to be a part of Mission Health. We’ve faced some challenges that come naturally with change, but we have continued to raise the bar for excellent care and community support. This Impact Report spotlights some of our key accomplishments in caring for our patients, our colleagues and our communities in 2019.
In the first 12 months of our partnership with HCA Healthcare, we made improvements such as increasing the charity care we provide patients by more than $100 million, completing and opening the Mission Hospital North Tower, hiring more than 100 new providers and advance practice providers, raising the minimum wage for colleagues and donating over $1.5 million in cash and in-kind gifts to not-for-profit entities across western North Carolina. HCA Healthcare’s scale and financial stability have enabled us to continue providing the high quality services we have offered patients for more than 134 years.
I’m proud to say that we have met our annual commitments made as part of the acquisition, and we are on track for others that will require more time to complete. Our annual report has been delivered to the seller entity, ANC Healthcare, Inc., the Independent Monitor, the Attorney General and our hospitals’ advisory boards, along with this Impact Report. HCA Healthcare remains committed to serving western North Carolina and investing in Mission Health to build upon its reputation as a leading healthcare provider.
“HCA Healthcare’s scale and financial stability have enabled us to continue providing the high quality services we have offered patients for more than 134 years.”
The information in this report is presented in three sections: “Doing What Is Right for Patients,” “Excellent People Make Excellence Happen” and “Caring for Our Community.” The first highlights the exceptional care we deliver each and every day. The next section showcases our phenomenal staff and how they work tirelessly to deliver the best care possible. And the last section is all about how Mission Health contributes to the local communities we are so privileged to serve.
As I reflect on 2019, I can’t help but think about how different this year will be for us. As I write this, our colleagues are facing enormous challenges related to coronavirus (COVID-19), and they are giving their all to save lives. Mission Health, and the entire HCA Healthcare organization, is facing these challenges head-on by leveraging our robust network of response teams who help us mobilize quickly and scale accordingly in times of need.
Whether you’re a Mission Health patient, colleague or community member, I hope this report gives you the same sense of pride that it gives me. I look forward to another year of growing and improving so we can provide even better care and support for our Western North Carolina community.
(Download PDF of the full Mission Health 2019 Impact Report)