HCA Healthcare Sam Hazen Discusses Healthcare With Western North Carolina Health Policy Initiative And Local Leaders
This month, HCA CEO Sam Hazen joined a discussion with community leaders with the Western North Carolina Health Policy Initiative (WNC HPI) at a roundtable at UNC Asheville. Mission Hospital CEO Greg Lowe joined the conversation, providing an opportunity for local stakeholders to interact directly with the top leadership at Mission Hospital.
During his discussion, Hazen outlined HCA’s commitment to providing great care for the community and a wonderful place for employees. He outlined his three-point strategy for providing key services for the community. The first point is strengthening governance and accountability, addressing workforce challenges, and improving services and processes to enhance patient care.
Hazen recounted that during Helene, he worked hard to keep the hospital open to serve the community and indicated personal involvement in helping improve services in the Mission Hospital system. He highlighted the dedicated healthcare providers in the aftermath of Helene and how they continue to deliver high-quality care to the community. Hazen concluded by saying that the CMS process provided HCA the opportunity to pause and do a deep dive on processes and service delivery to improve patient outcomes.
Hazen said Mission was focused on improving the patient pipeline to help them effectively navigate the care system and increase capacity to handle transfers from rural hospitals.
The first person asked Hazen about how Mission Hospital works to connect with stakeholders in the community. Hazen discussed the role of the community advisory boards in helping connect the hospital with the community.
State Senator Julie Mayfield introduced herself by praising Hazen for visiting Western North Carolina and his commitment to transparency. She said, “There can be two things happening at once. There can be and are great things happening at Mission, and there is a lack of trust in the community. She then said that with the type of leadership Hazen is bringing, she believes the trust gap can be bridged.
The third individual asked about healthcare workforce development. Hazen outlined numerous partnerships that HCA engages in with colleges and other programs to help meet the workforce needs both in Western North Carolina and across the country. Greg Lowe added details about how Mission Hospital allows students to work alongside qualified healthcare workers to learn more, in addition to the partnerships they engage in.
Marc Malloy asked about HCA’s plan to address economic constraints due to changes to the Health Insurance Exchange. Hazen said the company’s position has been that families need healthcare coverage to benefit, and that it plans to become more efficient to navigate the changing economic environment. He said he wanted to focus on reducing administrative costs, implementing best practices, and using AI to provide greater transparency within the organization. Hazen expressed confidence in HCA’s ability to push through the economic headwinds.
Sen. Ralph Hise asked about HCA’s plan for smaller community hospitals, especially after the ten-year agreement. Hazen described HCA’s process of integrating smaller rural hospitals with a larger process. He said that there are no plans to shrink rural hospital services. Lowe added that Mission Hospital is investing in rural hospitals throughout the system and described efforts to help Blue Ridge Regional Hospital recover after Helene. He then said that the key to providing patient care at the rural hospitals is supporting them with a larger hospital and providing seamless patient care.
The next person asked about what the biggest barrier was that they faced. Hazen said the biggest challenge is that Mission Hospitals is full and that they need additional beds. He then said that globally the demand for more complex services is growing, and that Mission has the ability to absorb this demand. Hazen then said that addressing the workforce challenge is high on his list, including partnerships with academic institutions and reputational challenges.
The second-to-last person asked about safety concerns, allegations of reduced staffing, and profit motive. Hazen disputed the report, clarifying that Mission is not the most profitable unit in HCA. And that there was reasonable profitability before HCA acquired Mission, but now Mission Hospital pays taxes, unlike the previous nonprofit owner. He rejected the notion that they made those profits on the heels of staffing cuts and pointed out greater headcounts in nurses compared to 2019. He then said they made staffing cuts on the administrative side. Hazen then pointed out that HCA invested almost three-quarters of a billion in the Mission Hospital system.
The final person asked what gives him hope for the future about HCA. Hazen said it was the people and culture. He said that HCA was motivated to do things better and improve care for the communities that they serve.
