ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — A new national patient advocacy effort is planning a community vigil in Asheville later this month focused on grief, solidarity and concerns about the state of Mission Hospital.
The gathering, titled “Grieving the State of Mission Hospital,” is scheduled for 7 p.m. June 29 at First Congregational Church.
Organizers with The Patients Union say the event is intended as a space for community members — including patients, families, health care workers and residents — to share experiences and reflect on what they describe as worsening conditions at the hospital under HCA Healthcare ownership.
Mission Hospital has long been a cornerstone of Western North Carolina health care, but organizers and some community members have raised concerns about staffing pressures, delays in care and patient outcomes in recent years.
In promotional materials, organizers cite what they describe as 10 patient deaths over the past 18 months, including a recent patient death by suicide in the emergency department. Those figures could not immediately be independently verified.
“This is not a protest,” organizers said in a statement. “It is a space to gather, to grieve what we all have lost, to hold space for grief and anger, and to begin taking steps toward the care our community deserves.”
The vigil comes as The Patients Union, a newly formed national effort to organize patients in a model similar to labor unions, begins expanding its work in North Carolina.
The Rev. Rob Stephens, one of the group’s North Carolina organizers, said Asheville was chosen in part because of widespread concerns he has heard about access to care and patient experiences at Mission Hospital.
“We’ve been hearing a lot about Asheville,” Stephens said in an interview. “You can’t walk down the street without hearing a story about Mission and how people feel the quality of care has changed.”
Stephens said the group aims to build what it calls “countervailing power” to the health care system by organizing patients, sharing experiences and helping people navigate insurance and care challenges. He also said the group has hosted listening sessions and “patient tables” across the region in recent months.
While the event is focused on grief and storytelling, organizers say it is also intended to lay the groundwork for future organizing efforts around health care access and accountability.
Organizers emphasize the event is also meant to include health care workers, who they say are under significant strain.
“Nurses and staff are doing the best they can,” Stephens said. “But they are working within a system that is squeezing every dollar it can out of the hospital.”
The event is free and open to the public.