‘Unsafe assignments’: Nurses at Mission Hospital share concerns over staffing levels

By Andrew James

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    ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — Nurses from Mission Hospital took their concerns to Buncombe County Commissioners this week.

“The unsafe assignments are due to inadequate staffing,” nurse Lori Hedrick told commissioners.

Hedrick told commissioners Mission Health is down more than 400 core nurses compared to this time last year. She said the union is allowing nurses to share more of their concerns with hospital leadership.

“We submit recommendations to the Chief Nursing Officer on a monthly basis. The objectives are to improve patient care and workplace safety, based on our daily hands-on experience,” she said.

Even with those recommendations, nurses said they need more support when it comes to pay and retention bonuses to address the staffing shortages.

“When HCA continuously denies increasing employees pay, in order to benefit their stakeholders’ profits, it sends a clear message. This had led to hundreds of nurses leaving Mission Hospital,” Hedrick said.

Nancy Lindell, the Director of Media Relations for Mission Health, sent News 13 the following statement in response to the nurses’ concerns:

As is often the case, the numbers and information provided by the union are just not accurate. For instance, we have hired more than a thousand nurses in 2022, not including the travelers contracted to support the Mission care team.

Patient care is our top priority, and to continue to support the best possible care, we are working diligently to ensure nursing and other roles are filled as quickly as possible by continuing to heavily recruit and offer robust sign on bonuses.

Like hospitals across the country, we are having to respond to the shortage of trained healthcare providers with innovative solutions such as: international nurses, alternative care delivery models, and academic partnerships—including the recent announcement of funding additional faculty members at three local colleges and university for their nursing education programs and opening the Galen College of Nursing in Biltmore Park. We also started a “pay to learn” CNA program in March 2021 both in Asheville and in Highlands.

For a list of our current open positions or to submit an application, please visit MissionHealth.org/Careers. The nurses union is planning an action event on August 25 for wage increases and retention bonuses.

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