Editor’s Note: As 2024 comes to a close, Asheville Watchdog staffers take you back and inside their most memorable stories and news events of the year.
I was driving down I-26 on Jan. 11 when I got the call.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had a document I’d been hunting for months, and I would possess it within minutes.
The caller, a CMS employee, told me he had a letter from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services informing CMS of its investigation of Mission Hospital and its recommendation that the hospital be placed in immediate jeopardy, the most severe sanction it could face.
State and federal investigators had descended on the hospital in November and December 2023, interviewing nurses, doctors and administrators about the quality of care being provided to patients.
I knew the investigations were happening, but I didn’t know how severe their findings would be. I certainly didn’t expect a finding of immediate jeopardy, which CMS defines this way:
“Immediate Jeopardy (IJ) represents a situation in which entity noncompliance has placed the health and safety of recipients in its care at risk for serious injury, serious harm, serious impairment or death.”
Unless a hospital fixes the conditions that brought about the immediate jeopardy, it faces the loss of its Medicare and Medicaid funding, which can jeopardize its financial viability. As we have reported, the majority of patients in western North Carolina are on Medicare or Medicaid, or are uninsured.
I called my editors and we started an all-hands-on-deck session of calling sources, writing and editing.
Within a few hours of my receiving the call from CMS, we published our story, making Asheville Watchdog the first media outlet to break this major news.
“We have taken those results seriously, and there are no excuses for our patients receiving anything other than exceptional care,” Mission Health spokesperson Nancy Lindell said in the story. “This is not the standard of care we expect, nor that our patients deserve, and we will work diligently to improve.”
On Feb. 1, CMS made it official with its own letter to HCA North Carolina Division President Greg Lowe. The letter stated that the hospital had 23 days to issue a “plan of correction,” which would need to spell out how it planned to fix the conditions that brought about immediate jeopardy.
On Feb. 15, a scathing 384-page report from CMS detailing what caused the failures was released. Again, The Watchdog was the first to report the findings: 18 people had been harmed, including four who died between 2022 and 2023, all because of violations of federal standards of care. I described the report this way in my story:
It spotlights not only patient deaths and long delays in care but also a lack of available rooms, a lack of governing bodies “responsible for the conduct of the hospital,” and multiple leadership failures.
Following a Feb. 23 visit to Mission by state and federal inspectors, the immediate jeopardy finding was lifted. But a coalition of prominent physicians and patient advocates blasted Mission’s plan of correction, writing a letter to NCDHHS Chief Deputy Secretary Mark Benton in which they demanded to know why the plan didn’t require the hiring of more staff.
The Watchdog’s reporting on immediate jeopardy was just one component of our coverage of Mission Hospital in 2024. Throughout the year, we investigated numerous angles about the largest hospital in western North Carolina. Many of our stories have been grim and tough to report.
A wave of departures
Nurses and doctors have left the hospital, seeking more promising job opportunities. The Watchdog has investigated the departure of neurologists, urologists, cancer medication doctors, pharmacists, hospitalists, registered nurses and others. We’ve spoken to patients, chaplains, administrators and union leaders.
I’ve spoken with many health care workers who say they feel hamstrung by their circumstances. They say they’re unable to leave because they’ve established roots here yet at the same time don’t want to stay because they are burned out or are forced to make compromises, many related to staffing issues at the hospital.
In July, a broad coalition of physicians, patient advocates, clergy and Democratic state Sen. Julie Mayfield launched Reclaim Healthcare WNC. The initiative calls for HCA to relinquish Mission so it can become a nonprofit hospital, as it was before the Nashville company bought Mission Health in 2019 for $1.5 billion.
Ambulances line the emergency department bay at Mission Hospital days after Helene struck. // Provided photo
Our reporting shows that nurses and doctors are working hard through the tumult to give the best care possible to our community. They worked through enormous challenges following Tropical Storm Helene, with HCA supplying a high level of support.
Some still feel as if the company will continue to cut where it can.
Some of the last stories I wrote in 2024 revealed Mission’s plan to close the region’s only long term acute care hospital, Asheville Specialty Hospital, and to raze the St. Joseph’s Hospital campus, whose origins date back more than a century and which has been expensive for Mission to maintain.
About a year ago, I wrote a year-in-review piece about my investigation into the hospital’s emergency room procedures, which nurses said had endangered patients. The story included this statement about Mission:
Not everything is clear, but after two years of reporting, I believe that whatever is happening there, it’s seismic.
I didn’t realize how accurate that statement would be.
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Andrew R. Jones is a Watchdog investigative reporter. Email arjones@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s local reporting during this crisis is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.
SUMMARY: Jim Jenkins, a North Carolina baseball trailblazer and Negro Leagues player, exemplified resilience and excellence both on and off the field. His sons recall his superior skills—hitting, running, and catching—and how he faced challenges due to his skin color. Beyond baseball, Jenkins was a community father, teaching youths fundamentals and helping those in need. He shared a friendship with legend Hank Aaron, often attending Braves games with his family. His legacy endures through his children, who honor not just his athletic achievements but his kindness and humanity, inspiring future generations to carry on his impact.
James “Jim” Jenkins had a profound impact on the game of baseball as a trailblazer known in the Carolinas.
SUMMARY: A scientist reflecting on the politicization of science warns that ideological influence undermines objectivity, breeds mistrust, and hampers public understanding. The FY2026 budget proposal cut NIH funding by about 40%, saving taxpayers $18 billion, but only 1.5% of the total federal budget, while increasing defense spending by 13%. These cuts severely impact states like North Carolina, where science drives $2.4 billion in tax revenue and thousands of jobs. The cuts target indirect costs vital for research infrastructure and diversity efforts, mistakenly seen as ideological rather than essential scientific practices. The author calls for unity to prioritize facts over politics and protect scientific progress for societal and economic health.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-06-15 02:01:00
North Carolina’s U.S. House members voted along party lines on two Republican-backed bills: the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (H.R. 1), which cuts \$1.6 trillion in government spending, and the “Rescissions Act of 2025” (H.R. 4), which eliminates \$9.4 billion from entities like USAID and public broadcasting. Republicans called it a purge of waste, citing spending on drag shows and foreign projects. Democrats criticized the cuts as harmful and symbolic, calling the effort fiscally irresponsible. H.R. 1 passed 215-214; H.R. 4 passed 214-212. No Democrats supported either. A few Republicans broke ranks and voted against their party on each bill.
(The Center Square) – North Carolinians in the U.S. House of Representatives were unwavering of party preference for two bills now awaiting finalization in the Senate.
Republicans who favored them say the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, known also as House Resolution 1, slashed $1.6 trillion in waste, fraud and abuse of government systems. The Rescissions Act of 2025, known also as House Resolution 4, did away with $9.4 billion – less than six-tenths of 1% of the other legislation – in spending by the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Corp. for Public Broadcasting (PBS, NPR), and other entities.
Democrats against them say the Department of Government Efficiency made “heartless budget cuts” and was an “attack on the resources that North Carolinians were promised and that Congress has already appropriated.”
Republicans from North Carolina in favor of both were Reps. Dr. Greg Murphy, Virginia Foxx, Addison McDowell, David Rouzer, Rev. Mark Harris, Richard Hudson, Pat Harrigan, Chuck Edwards, Brad Knott and Tim Moore.
Democrats against were Reps. Don Davis, Deborah Ross, Valerie Foushee and Alma Adams.
Foxx said the surface was barely skimmed with cuts of “$14 million in cash vouchers for migrants at our southern border; $24,000 for a national spelling bee in Bosnia; $1.5 million to mobilize elderly, lesbian, transgender, nonbinary and intersex people to be involved in the Costa Rica political process; $20,000 for a drag show in Ecuador; and $32,000 for an LGBTQ comic book in Peru.”
Adams said, “While Elon Musk claimed he would cut $1 trillion from the federal government, the recissions package amounts to less than 1% of that. Meanwhile, House Republicans voted just last month to balloon the national debt by $3 trillion in their One Big Ugly Bill. It’s fiscal malpractice, not fiscal responsibility.”
House Resolution 1 passed 215-214 and House Resolution 4 went forward 214-212. Republican Reps. Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky were against the One Big Beautiful Bill and Republican Reps. Mark Amodei of Nevada, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Nicole Malliotakis of New York and Michael Turner of Ohio were against the Rescissions Act.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
The article presents a straightforward report on the partisan positions and voting outcomes related to two specific bills, highlighting the contrasting views of Republicans and Democrats without using loaded or emotionally charged language. It neutrally conveys the Republicans’ framing of the bills as efforts to cut waste and reduce spending, alongside Democrats’ critique of those cuts as harmful and insufficient fiscal discipline. By providing direct quotes from representatives of both parties and clearly stating voting results, the content maintains factual reporting without promoting a particular ideological stance. The balanced presentation of arguments and absence of editorializing indicate a commitment to neutrality rather than an intentional partisan perspective.
