Greg Lowe, the North Carolina president of HCA Healthcare, is taking charge as CEO of Asheville’s Mission Hospital months after state and federal regulators cited it for failures in following to comply with health and safety regulations.
Lowe told Mission Health’s staff earlier this week that he’s replacing Chad Patrick, according to an email obtained by Asheville Watchdog. In what he described as “a restructuring,” the new CEO pledged to streamline the hospital’s executive structure, improve communications between leadership, medical staff and colleagues and provide easier access to HCA Healthcare resources and support.
In late 2023, an investigation by federal authorities and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services found “multiple failures in Mission’s compliance with health and safety regulations,” according to Asheville Watchdog’s article. In February, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services found the hospital to be in immediate jeopardy, the most serious sanction a hospital can receive.
However, a follow-up visit by state inspectors found “no deficiencies,” prompting the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ decision in June to remove the risk of Mission Hospital losing its Medicare and Medicaid funding.
Patrick served as Mission’s CEO since 2019, when it was acquired by Nashville, Tennessee-based HCA Healthcare, a publicly traded operator of hospitals and other healthcare sites in 20 states and the U.K. Patrick will serve as CEO when he returns to HCA Florida Orange Park where he had worked, according to Lowe’s email to staff.