North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein sues HCA Healthcare

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein sued HCA Healthcare for failing to comply with the Asset Purchase Agreement it executed when it purchased Mission Health System in 2019, according to a statement. Attorney General Stein alleges that HCA is not providing the quality, consistent emergency and cancer care for western North Carolinians it committed to deliver. “The doctors, nurses, and medical staff at Mission HCA have worn themselves to the bone trying to care for patients without the necessary resources or support. They deserve our gratitude, but they and their patients also deserve better. I’m taking HCA to court to make sure it lives up to the agreement it made when it bought non-profit Mission in 2019. That’s what the people of western North Carolina deserve.” When HCA purchased Mission, Attorney General Stein negotiated additional health care protections for patients because he was concerned that HCA would cut critical services that the community needs. HCA promised not to discontinue emergency and trauma services or oncology services at Mission Hospital until at least 2029, his office said. Over the last several years, the North Carolina Department of Justice has heard from hundreds of North Carolinians about the issues at HCA and received more than 500 complaints. Patients specifically have raised concerns about emergency and trauma services and oncology services, the AG said. Attorney General Stein is asking the court to order HCA to restore emergency and trauma services and oncology services to the level Mission Hospital provided before HCA took over.