(The Center Square) – Litigation against HCA Healthcare by the state of North Carolina should be dismissed, says a request filed in Buncombe County Superior Court.
HCA attorneys on Tuesday denied allegations from Attorney General Josh Stein, representing the state’s taxpayers, the company failed to live up to its agreement to maintain emergency and cancer services following its $1.5 billion purchase of Asheville’s Mission Hospital in 2019. HCA also filed two counterclaims requesting clarification from the North Carolina Business Court on the 10-year agreement.
The 66-page filing says the state “fails to state a claim against the non-parties upon which the court may grant relief” because HCA hasn’t violated the agreement.
Stein in December asked the court to require HCA to restore oncology and emergency services at Mission Hospital to conditions there in 2019, following a flood of complaints from patients, staff and contractors in recent years.
“The Hospital Service Commitments are clear and unambiguous and HCA satisfies them,” the filing read. “Commitments require that HCA (1) maintain Level II trauma capabilities at Mission Hospital, and (2) maintain the capabilities to provide the emergency services and oncology services that were provided at Mission as of January 2019.”