ASHEVILLE - AdventHealth wants to build a new hospital in Buncombe County, announcing it would apply for state approval June 15.

The Florida-Headquartered company revealed their plans in an AdventHealth Hendersonville social media post April 20 that linked to the website.

"A new AdventHealth hospital in the Asheville area would mean additional access and choice for high-quality health care close to home," the post said.

"This new hospital would offer the community more than just another option for emergency care," the announcement said.

Related:Mission nurse on HCA fallout during merger hearing: Shocked and horrified

AdventHealth will have to submit a certificate of need to the state to move forward with the hospital project. According to the North Carolina Division of Health Service Regulation, the state's certificate of need law requires health care providers to obtain a a certificate from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services before developing or offering a new institutional health service.

Mission Health will also submit a certificate of need, according to spokesperson Nancy Lindell. She did not say whether it would be for expansion or a new facility.

"The need for additional beds in this region was created by the demand for Mission Hospital’s advanced services and our region’s projected growth," she said.

"Multiple hospitals or other facilities can submit certificate of need applications for the same type of facilities (and) often multiple ... applications for the same health care need," NCDHHS spokesperson Catie Armstrong said.

The AdventHealth announcement comes as Mission Hospital, owned by HCA Healthcare, has come under scrutiny for staffing and personal protective equipment issues, some of which led to a recent North Carolina Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health citations and fines of nearly $30,000.

Asheville residents brought a monopoly suit against HCA in 2021 as well, and nurses unionized just months earlier.

Several actions by National Nurses United Members have called on HCA to improve working conditions for its staff and, thereby, care environments for its patients.

Nurses also have condemned HCA for putting profits before patients, staging several actions in front of the hospital, including one April 21.

HCA's revenue in 2021 was more than $58.7 billion, according to company reports, which included profits of nearly $7 billion.

The AdventHealth system, a non-profit, made $14.9 billion in revenue in 2021, according to financial reports, including $1.5 billion in profits. The company's revenue was up 17.9% from 2020.

Even as it faces criticism and the recent exit of senior vice president and chief medical officer Dr. William Hathaway — now Mountain Area Health Education Center CEO — Mission is expanding in WNC.

Lindell said April 16 HCA was planning at $68 million replacement hospital for Angel Medical Center in Franklin, set to open in 2022 and more than $62 million in expansions at the Asheville hospital including a new behavioral health hospital set to open in 2023.

Related:Mission Hospital did not report employee's COVID death on time, Labor Department says

Mission Health has nine different medical centers including five hospitals across Western North Carolina. It has more than 130 facilities in seven different states, according to its website, which includes 48 hospitals.

AdventHealth's Hendersonville hospital currently is its only location in North Carolina.

The company considered more than one location for the hospital site, according to AdventHealth Hendersonville spokesperson Victoria Dunkle, but the final location decision will be on the June application.

Formerly Park Ridge Health, AdventHealth's Hendersonville location was established in the early 1900s and became part of the company in 1984. The company touted its "deep understanding of the region’s unique needs" as a reason to expand into Buncombe. 

The facility they want to build would include:

Specific information on how many staff members AdventHealth would hire will be forthcoming, Dunkle said.  

Related:Report: Mission, other WNC hospitals violate year-old federal pricing rule, face fines

According to the 2022 North Carolina State Medical Facilities Plan, the expected need for acute care patient beds in Buncombe, Graham, Madison and Yancey counties by 2024 is just over 67, which is why AdventHealth cited that number.

Mission currently has 733 acute care beds in Buncombe, according to the plan.

An acute care bed is a bed licensed by the North Carolina Division of Health Service Regulation in accordance with state standards. 

The state will begin reviewing certificates of need in July.

The new hospital would be staffed by "skilled clinical teams" to "deliver whole-person care," the announcement said, including board-certified physicians and nurses, support service professionals and consumer experience employees.

"We believe health care should always be focused on patients, not profits," the announcement said. 

"Our whole-person care philosophy means we treat the body, mind and spirit of everyone who walks through our doors. It’s our promise to help you feel whole, and this commitment is why AdventHealth ranks in the top quartile nationally for outstanding patient care and safety."

More:Mission Hospital did not report employee's COVID death on time, Labor Department says

AdventHealth is a faith-based organization with a "Christian mission," according to its website, and has nearly 50 hospital campuses and hundreds of care sites in markets throughout nine states.

"A new AdventHealth hospital in the Asheville area would mean more choices for patients to receive high-quality health care close to home and more opportunities for dedicated medical professionals to build their careers in our community," the announcement said.

Currently Mission Hospital and CarePartners Rehabilitation Hospital are the only state-registered hospitals in Buncombe County, according to a frequently updated NCDHHS document. 

When asked about the most significant factor leading to the company's move to build a new hospital, Dunkle said it came out of community feedback.

"In conversations about the current state of health care in their community, people in Asheville and Buncombe County said they would like to have more choice in hospitals and feel that good patient care goes beyond physicians and outcomes to include how they are treated by the institutions themselves," Dunkle said.

"Beyond the need the state has outlined, consumers have been very open with AdventHealth about their desire for more competition in hospital care. They want options including the choice of not-for-profit and faith-based care, which is what AdventHealth has provided."

Growing AdventHealth's reach to Buncombe will allow the company to "enhance" its recruitment capabilities, Dunkle said, allowing them to add more specialized care providers to its staff and expanding training programs for clinicians who want to live and work in the area.

"For our Hendersonville location," she added, "this will allow more collaboration between our teams. Ultimately, this means better health care resources for people in all the communities we serve."

Andrew Jones is Buncombe County government and health care reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at @arjonesreports on Facebook and Twitter, 828-226-6203 or arjones@citizentimes.com. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.