Becker's Hospital Review

29 CEO / STRATEGY North Carolina hospital CEO resigns By Ayla Ellison T he CEO of Haywood Regional Medical Center in Clyde, N.C., has informed staff that he is resigning effective Oct. 14, according to Smoky Mountain News. Greg Caples is stepping down to pursue new opportunities two years after joining Haywood Regional as CEO. He previously served as CEO of Coliseum Northside Hospital in Macon, Ga. Haywood Regional is searching for a new CEO and will provide updates throughout the recruitment process. "We will keep our community informed when a new leader has been identified," the hospital said in a statement to Smoky Mountain News. Haywood Regional Medical Center is part of Duke LifePoint Healthcare, a joint venture of Raleigh, N.C.-based Duke University Health System and Brentwood, Tenn.-based LifePoint Health. n Only 44% of adults say healthcare is handled well in US By Cailey Gleeson O nly 44 percent of U.S. adults say healthcare is handled well in the nation, according to a Sept. 12 poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The survey was conducted from July 28 to Aug. 1 and featured responses from 1,505 adults. The sample was drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, designed to be representative of the U.S. population. Five other findings: • Fifty-one percent of respondents said community support and resources for older adults are done well in the U.S. • Forty-five percent said healthcare for older adults is done well. • Thirty-seven percent said the quality of care at nursing homes is done well. • Only 25 percent of respondents said prescription medication costs are handled well. • Twenty-eight percent said mental healthcare is done well. n HCA's Mission Health invests $22M in employee raises By Kelly Gooch C iting a need to recruit and retain workers, Asheville, N.C.-based Mission Health said it is investing $22 million in additional pay increases for certain roles. The health system, part of Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, announced the raises in a Sept. 7 news release shared with Becker's. Nurses — nonunion and union — in Mission Health hospitals, as well as workers in patient care roles such as environmental services, lab, laundry and patient care technicians, will see their wages increased. The raises come after hospital leaders evaluated the market and received feedback from employees, according to Mission Health. "The pay raises will start right away for our employees at our six hospitals outside of Asheville and for our nonunion employees at Mission Hospital. Increases for union nurses at Mission Hospital will be delayed while the hospital follows the collective bargaining agreement's process for notifying the union and discussing the hospital's proposed increases," the health system told Becker's. Mission Health also pointed to investments the health system has made to address workforce shortages, including the most recent pay increases; funding three faculty positions in nursing education at local colleges and universities; a "pay to learn" certified nursing assistant program; and offering sign-on bonuses. "These increases are a part of HCA Healthcare's continued effort to support and invest in our greatest asset: our people," Greg Lowe, president of Mission Health/HCA Healthcare North Carolina division, said in the release. n

• Cover