Area hospitals hiring many of the doctors staying local after leaving Mission Health

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — In April, Pardee will open two new clinics, Pardee Medical Associates and Pardee Primary Care Arden -- and these practices will include a total of 13 providers who used to work at Mission Health.

"We believe these are quality physicians in Arden and Brevard and not just quality physicians but really good people who want to stay in the community and we are really really happy that we are able to facilitate that for them," said Dr. David Ellis.

Dr. Ellis, the Chief Medical Officer for Pardee, said he hasn't kept track of exactly how many providers Pardee has hired from Mission.

Still, he said he's grateful when experienced doctors stay local.

He said it's a day-to-day decision to see which physicians are a good fit for Pardee.

TWO YEARS AFTER SALE TO HCA, CARE AND COST CONCERNS RAISED WITH MISSION HOSPITAL

"Our plans are not to, like I said, hire everyone who wants to leave Mission and set up outside the door of Mission/HCA. That's not the plan," Ellis said.

As we've reported, News 13 has confirmed that Mission Health has lost nearly 80 doctors since the sale to HCA.

News 13 asked Ellis if he thinks the changes at Mission and the doctors leaving Mission will affect healthcare locally.

"I don't know what HCA's plans are for the future. They clearly have a business plan that is theirs and they are not sharing it with people," Ellis said. "When you lose providers in an area, unless you have an excess of providers, it's going to affect care. Again, we certainly want to fill some of those gaps if that happens."

A spokesperson for AdventHealth confirmed that the hospital has hired doctors from Mission as well.

AdventHealth Hendersonville and our AdventHealth Medical Group offices across Western North Carolina continue to see a very high level of interest from physicians here in our region, as well as, across the country. They tell us they are looking to join AdventHealth because of our commitment to support doctors as they provide high quality, safe care to patients. We are excited to be welcoming several new physicians in the next few weeks. AdventHealth has had some inquiries from medical groups that left Mission/HCA. However, most of the larger medical groups in our region already had privileges at multiple local facilities, including AdventHealth Hendersonville.

News 13 has also spoken with a spokesperson for theAssociation of Independent Doctors, who said it's better for the community when doctors are not employed by the hospital.

Dr. Jeff Heck is the CEO of the Mountain Area Health Education Center, or MAHEC.

He said for 50 years, MAHEC has worked closely with Mission Health to educate and train new doctors.

DOCTOR DEPARTURES FROM MISSION HEALTH COULD BE 'A GOOD THING,' PHYSICIANS' GROUP SAYS

News 13 asked Heck if he's concerned about the doctor departures from Mission.

"No, I'm not troubled. I'll be troubled if they start to leave the region," Heck said.

Whether doctors go to another hospital or start their own practice, as long as they stay in the area, patients shouldn't be affected, he said.

"It hasn't changed their practice at all; it's just who their employer is. So I think that in a sense it is a win-win," he added. "We've kept them in the community; we've kept them training our residents."

Heck said he isn't surprised at the turnover at Mission, and that he is optimistic that the quality healthcare this region is known for is one thing that isn't changing.

"I have not seen anything to raise any significant alarms on my part. I know we still have a lot of learners in the hospital and they are very honest and they are still getting a great experience, learning well," said Heck.

CLINICS CLOSED, DOZENS OF DOCTORS LEAVE MISSION HEALTH SINCE HCA TAKEOVER

Mission Health recently sent the following statement to News 13 regarding doctor departures:

"Our primary care physicians were offered contracts aligned with Fair Market Value as the next step in transitioning them to HCA Healthcare contracts. Previous contracts with Mission Health had non-compete clauses in them and based on the auto-renew language in the previous contracts, we afforded Physicians the opportunity for a one-time waiving of the non-compete to either accept the new contracts HCA Healthcare offered or to choose other local practices, so that Physicians could consider other options and remain in the communities where our hospitals are located. While some have chosen to pursue other local options, we are confident that most will continue to care for our community here in Western North Carolina as members of our Mission Health medical staff. We are actively recruiting to fill any vacancies that we anticipate, and recently signed contracts with several new providers. Our primary care locations continue to be available to the community for their care needs, and we are prepared to expand staff as the needs of the community expand. HCA Healthcare continues to expand their support of physicians across all of Western North Carolina and while the employment relationship with some has changed, these physicians are still part of our medical staff and hospital team."