When a regional healthcare anchor changes how it operates, the consequences can extend far beyond individual departments. The loss of physicians, specialized staff and supporting services can weaken an entire healthcare system— and ultimately affect where patients can be treated, how quickly they receive care and how far they must travel to get it.
That concern is particularly significant in Western North Carolina, where Mission Hospital in Asheville serves as the region’s principal hospital for highly specialized care. Mission is the hub of a healthcare network whose spokes include smaller hospitals and medical facilities throughout the region. When a rural hospital has a patient who needs a specialist or service it cannot provide, the traditional solution is to stabilize the patient and transfer or refer that patient to Mission.
That system works only if the hub has the specialists and services needed to receive those patients…