The recent pressures from Hurricane Helene have forced Mission Health’s CarePartners Health Services in Asheville to temporarily suspend operations. This disruption has impacted rehabilitative care for over 50 patients and led to the temporary reassignment of more than 250 employees within the Mission Health system, according to internal communications and employee accounts obtained by Asheville Watchdog.
CarePartners CEO Jeffrey E. Brown explained in an email to employees on October 7th that the decision was a direct consequence of the storm. Hurricane Helene caused a significant surge in patient numbers across the Asheville healthcare network while simultaneously leaving much of the city without running water. Despite efforts by Mission owner HCA Healthcare, including water trucks at Mission Hospital and FEMA’s assistance in drilling a well, the water shortage severely strained operations. Mayor Esther Manheimer confirmed these hospital support measures during an October 8th event.
The closure of CarePartners Asheville affected approximately 50 inpatients in rehabilitation, several patients needing long-term acute care, and eight hospice patients. These individuals were transferred to various settings, including home care, skilled nursing facilities, other rehab programs, and UNC Health Caldwell in Lenoir, a considerable distance east of Asheville.
Initial communication regarding the patient transfers led to some confusion among CarePartners employees. The Watchdog learned from multiple employees that HCA and Mission leadership attributed the closure to a “state-mandated” directive, suggesting the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) had compelled the patient transfers.
However, NCDHHS clarified to Asheville Watchdog that the patient transfers were requested by HCA, not mandated by the state. NCDHHS spokesperson Hannah Jones stated, “Patient transfers are routine following disasters like hurricanes to help better serve the medical needs in the community,” indicating these actions are part of standard emergency protocols.
Clarification on Patient Transfer Requests
When questioned about whether Mission had informed employees of a state mandate, HCA Healthcare spokesperson Nancy Lindell denied this, stating, “No.” She verified that HCA had indeed requested the patient transfers. Lindell did not address questions regarding the impact on employees but issued a statement on October 10th outlining the rationale behind the temporary closure of Care Partners Asheville.
Lindell emphasized that “Our emergency rooms remain open, and we have the staff and resources to treat anyone who needs emergency care and those seeking the high levels of care available at Mission Hospital.” She underscored the immediate need for the restoration of city water services.
“This is temporary and routine patient movement, and CarePartners Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospital will reopen,” Lindell assured. “At this time, the situation is fluid as recovery efforts continue. We will evaluate capacity needs on a continuing basis and will adjust plans based on what’s in the best interest of our patients, our caregivers and our greater Western North Carolina community.”
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Mission Health confirmed that all other CarePartners services, including outpatient rehabilitation, home health, and PACE programs, would continue to operate.
State and federal agencies have been active at Mission facilities since the disaster’s onset, working to alleviate pressure on the emergency department.
Emails from Mission Hospital CEO Greg Lowe and CEO Brown, reviewed by The Watchdog, revealed that leaders at HCA Healthcare-owned Mission Health in Asheville decided to increase capacity for acute care patients. The temporary closure of CarePartners Asheville was a component of this broader strategy to create space within the system.
Brown’s email to staff conveyed the difficult circumstances: “As recovery efforts continue, state and local emergency management teams continue to assess what is best for this area,” he wrote. “Some very hard decisions are being made at this time for the good of our community.”
Brown’s memo further explained, “[O]ne of those is the decision to de-risk facilities by discharging patients to safer settings outside of the affected area.” He added that leadership and case management teams from Rehab Hospital, Asheville Specialty, and Solace (hospice care) were actively developing discharge plans for all current patients at Care Partners Asheville.
Lowe, in his October 6th message to staff, highlighted the lack of running water as the “biggest concern” and provided further context for what he termed a routine transition.
“To ensure that we can create capacity for acute care needs, we have made the decision to temporarily relocate selected stable patients from Mission Hospital to hospitals outside the area hardest hit,” Lowe explained. “In addition, patients from Asheville Specialty Hospital and CarePartners Inpatient Rehabilitation hospital will be transferred. We anticipate these transfers to affect fewer than 100 patients across all three facilities.”
“This routine patient movement will free up resources at Mission Hospital to address the most urgent medical needs of our community, as well as ensure access for high-acuity patients including trauma, stroke and cardiovascular conditions as rescue and recovery efforts continue,” Lowe stated. “It will also hopefully help provide additional relief for you and your teams, since we know you’ve been working around the clock.”
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Employee Impact and Redeployment at Care Partners Asheville
A CarePartners supervisor, speaking anonymously to The Watchdog due to concerns about job security, indicated that over 250 employees were affected by HCA’s decision to temporarily close Care Partners Asheville facilities. This supervisor also estimated that more than 50 patients were moved from the rehab and hospice programs alone.
“We got word last Wednesday [Oct. 2] … that Greg Lowe actually came here and talked to our leadership,” the supervisor recounted. “I got a phone call after that meeting, and basically was told that we were given instructions to get our census to zero to offload the need for resources at Mission Hospital.”
Another rehabilitation employee mentioned that staff were initially informed to “gradually whittle down our patient census,” which was already reduced due to ongoing construction in two units.
“Then Sunday [Oct. 6], we were told all patients were meant to be evacuated by the end of the day, and it was a very quick turnaround. So at first we were told Sunday morning that we needed to offload as many patients as we could. Then several hours later, we were told that we had to be at zero by the end of the day,” the supervisor detailed, highlighting the rapid shift in plans.
HCA Healthcare officials stated that the closure of the CarePartners campus on Sweeten Creek Road was a standard procedure to free up resources for Mission Hospital’s strained emergency services following tropical storm Helene. // Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego.
Despite acknowledging the natural disaster and HCA’s support, the supervisor voiced concerns about the communication surrounding the closures and the uncertainty regarding employee roles.
“I truthfully feel like there was maybe a lack of communication amongst the division to the actual staff members,” the supervisor stated. “They basically told leadership that they were the ones that needed to disseminate the information to the rest of the staff.”
According to the supervisor, administrators are working to find temporary positions for CarePartners employees within other operational areas of Mission Health.
“What HCA told us was that certain numbers of us could apply to their Hope Fund, which is their employee support fund, if we had damage to our homes that we needed funding to pay for, or if we hadn’t met medical deductibles,” the supervisor added, noting available support resources for affected employees of Care Partners Asheville.
“In addition to that, they developed a redeployment department, where they gather the information of all the employees for here at CarePartners, and have been kind of systematically redeploying them in areas that have a need,” the supervisor explained about the efforts to reassign employees.
Mission did not provide immediate responses to inquiries about the long-term status of these employees’ positions.
NCDHHS spokesperson Jones stated that nursing staff and hospital leadership contacted each patient’s attending physician to inform them of transfer locations.
“Both the patient and their families were involved in the decision-making process,” Jones asserted, emphasizing patient and family inclusion in transfer arrangements from Care Partners Asheville.
For families who may have lost contact with patients within the Mission Health system, a patient reunification hotline is available at (828) 213-1111, which also serves as Mission’s main line.
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 [email protected]. 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/.
