'It's been a long journey': Mission Health's $400 million North Tower will open in October

HCA Healthcare September 24, 2019

NOT FOR EXTERNAL DISTRIBUTION

AUTHOR: Dillon Davis

ASHEVILLE — The latest addition to Asheville's downtown skyline is almost complete.

Mission Health's new North Tower, a 12-story facility totaling more than 630,000 square feet on the hospital's Biltmore Avenue campus, is expected to open its doors in early October. The project, previously referred to as the Mission Hospital for Advanced Medicine, expands emergency department services and patient capacity while integrating new technology to benefit patients and staff, hospital leaders said in a Sept. 23 facility tour.

Its opening effectively caps a particularly noteworthy year for Mission, during which the six-hospital system was acquired for $1.5 billion by Nashville-based HCA Healthcare and which later saw it turn over several notable system leaders, including former President and CEO Dr. Ron Paulus.

The new North Tower at Mission Hospital will be opening soon with a new emergency department and added patient rooms with smart technology. (Photo: ANGELI WRIGHT/ASHEVILLE CITIZEN TIMES)

In an interview at a table bordering a new dining space, Mission Senior Vice President Sonya Greck said she's proud of system leaders for "what we've done in hearing the voice of the community, patients and families."

She also credits HCA, which completed its acquisition in February, for "carrying the project forward for us."

"It's been a long journey," Greck said, "but it's been one when you look at all the partnerships we've had, it's been phenomenal in regards to where we are and knowing this will be here to carry us forward into the future for health care for Western North Carolina and North Carolina as well."

$400 million tower, decade in planning

City Council unanimously approved plans for the new hospital in 2015, but Greck said planning for the structure dates back almost a decade. Project costs for the North Tower are said to be more than $400 million, easily one of the largest development efforts in the community's history.

In total, the facility features 220 patient rooms, a 94-bed emergency department, 11 interventional and cardiac catheterization suites, eight "state of the art" digital operating rooms and an outdoor terrace on the third floor, among other amenities.

Mission Hospital CEO Chad Patrick talks about the GE wall of analytics in the interventional platform of the new North Tower at Mission Hospital during a media tour on Sept. 23, 2019. The screens allow staff to move patients around the hospital for procedures more efficiently. (Photo: ANGELI WRIGHT/ASHEVILLE CITIZEN TIMES)

Chad Patrick, a veteran of the HCA system and Mission Hospital's CEO since July, said the North Tower brings together services of Mission's Memorial and St. Joseph facilities, the latter of which he noted is "a very, very old building and very expensive to upkeep."

"The exciting thing is we're going to pick up 51 new acute care beds," Patrick said. "Our license doesn't change, but some of those beds over there are being used for work that are not patient-related, so we're able to expand our services with the North Tower as well, plus bring all the new technology and cutting-edge medicine that Western North Carolina patients deserve."

Emergency room is moving

With its opening, emergency room operations soon will shift to the tower from the current entrance at 509 Biltmore Ave., taking advantage of features such as the rooftop helipad and the "megavator," a large express elevator designed to transport and provide immediate care to patients.

The emergency room transition also is expected to happen in October, though a date has not yet been finalized.

Chad Patrick, CEO of Mission Hospital, talks about the trauma bays in the emergency department of the new North Tower at Mission Hospital during a media tour on Sept. 23, 2019. (Photo: ANGELI WRIGHT/ASHEVILLE CITIZEN TIMES)

What about St. Joseph's campus?

The future of the St. Joseph property is a question to be determined by hospital leaders. Mission Hospital was formed when St. Joseph's Hospital and Memorial Mission Medical Center began an organizational partnership in 1996. They formally merged in 1998, when Mission bought St. Joseph's Hospital from the Sisters of Mercy.

Mission says the facility's future is being weighed by "a dedicated team of individuals exploring the many options and related outcomes that will come of this decision."

The North Tower also precedes two other development projects in Mission's pipeline: the nearly $69 million Angel Medical Center in Franklin — scheduled to wrap construction in October 2022 — and a new behavioral health hospital in Asheville as agreed upon in the Mission-HCA deal.

The new North Tower at Mission Hospital adds 220 new patient rooms to the hospital which are larger, feature a couch with a pull-out bed for visitors as well as "audio-spotlighting" technology. (Photo: ANGELI WRIGHT/ASHEVILLE CITIZEN TIMES)

Greck said the projects have received approved certificates of need — essentially an endorsement required to build new health care facilities — meaning Mission now is "in the midst of moving forward" with them both.

"Angel definitely is moving forward with regards to the site and the facility renderings itself," she said. "Behavioral health is moving, not at the pace — I think Angel is ahead of what we're doing. But again, lots of work is happening as we continue to move forward with this process."