Mission Hospital’s corporate owner, HCA Healthcare, reported revenue of $18 billion in the first quarter of the year, up $1 billion from the same period last year.

Net income, or profit, was also up —  $1.61 billion compared to $1.591 billion in the first quarter of 2024.

Meanwhile, nurses at Mission received a box of Cracker Jack, other snacks, a visor and Mission-branded swag in honor of National Nurses Week that ended Monday.

“All I want for Nurses Week is consistent, good staffing and the supplies to do my job effectively, and for my patients to get the care that they deserve,” said Ali Gardner, a neurosciences intensive care unit nurse and union member. “We don’t care about any of this other stuff. I mean, yeah, we’ll eat the doughnuts and whatever. But what we want is to be able to provide good patient care. We just can’t do that under the conditions we’re often put under.”

In an earnings call last month, HCA Chief Executive Officer Sam Hazen touted HCA’s “strong financial results that were driven by broad-based volume growth, improved payer mix and better operating margin.”

HCA operates 192 hospitals and about 2,500 surgery centers, freestanding emergency rooms, urgent care centers and physician clinics in 20 states and the United Kingdom. Besides Mission in Asheville, the company owns five regional hospitals in western North Carolina.

HCA reported company-wide inpatient admissions increased 2.6 percent, and emergency room visits were up 4 percent in the first quarter of the year over the same period in 2024. 

“Most of our other volume categories, including cardiac procedures and rehab admissions, also had solid growth,” Hazen said in the earnings call.

Inpatient surgeries increased slightly by .2 percent, while outpatient surgeries declined by 2.1 percent.

“As we look to the rest of the year, we remain encouraged by our performance, the overall backdrop of growing demand for healthcare services and the increased investments we have made across the company to serve our communities better,” Hazen said on the call.

Hazen received $23.8 million in total compensation in 2024.

The company’s filings do not break out financial information or performance by hospital. An HCA spokesman did not respond to a request by Asheville Watchdog for Mission’s finances or comment on HCA’s revenue growth in light of the problems at Mission.

Since HCA purchased Mission Health in 2019, nurses, patients and doctors have complained that the company’s emphasis on profit has eroded care and caused an exodus of staff, particularly at Mission, its flagship hospital. The Watchdog has documented numerous concerns from oversight of Mission’s morgue that led to at least 111 bodies being released before a legally required medical examiner’s review to a patient dying in the emergency room bathroom in February after repeatedly calling for help.

In March, during the company’s stellar first quarter, Mission cut weekend nurses’ pay by $25 an hour.

HCA’s emphasis on profit is evident throughout its public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

As The Watchdog reported in March, performance bonuses for company executives, including Hazen, this year will be based 80 percent on hitting financial targets versus 20 percent on “quality metrics.”

“We continue to make progress on our cost agenda,” Hazen said on the earnings call. “Operating costs across most categories were in line with our expectations, and the operating margin improved on a year-over-year basis.”

Hazen said it was too soon to predict the impact of tariffs or potential changes to Medicaid under consideration at the federal level on HCA’s business.

“Our general approach is to support reasonable reforms,” he said. “However, we do not support reforms that harm coverage for families or individuals, nor do we support policies that compromise the ability for hospitals across the country to care for people in their times of utmost need.”

In response to a question from an investor, Hazen said HCA had reduced turnover among nurses and other staff and cut back on the use of contracted employees and that recent employee surveys represented “a high-water mark for us.”

HCA, he said, is not only producing “quality outcomes” but is “a great place to work for our employees.”

Investigative reporter Andrew R. Jones contributed to this report.

Asheville Watchdog welcomes thoughtful reader comments about this story, which has been republished on our Facebook page. Please submit your comments there. 

Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Sally Kestin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter. Email skestin@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

Related