Elizabeth Johnson: Hospital Authorities
As the NC General Assembly nears the end of its legislative session, legislators are working on a massive state budget that includes a proposal to allow the largest healthcare system in the state to grow even bigger. That system, Atrium Health, has 67 hospitals throughout NC, Wisconsin, Illinois, and a multitude of other states.
The Senate budget includes a proposal to eliminate territorial boundaries for hospital authorities. Current law restricts hospital authorities, of which mega system Atrium is one, to a 10-mile boundary of the government entity that created them, in this case Mecklenburg County, unless certain conditions are met. These conditions were put in place as a check and balance on the enormous powers that are granted hospital authorities, including the ability of eminent domain and access public financing. But the proposal would eliminate that boundary entirely. Why? Because Atrium Health wants all the benefits of being a hospital authority, with absolutely none of the accountability.
Currently, Atrium Health and other hospital authorities must collaborate with hospitals in jurisdictions outside of the 10-mile boundary. Repealing this statute would eliminate critical oversight and give Atrium, and by extension the county government in which Charlotte exists, unbridled power to utilize their seemingly limitless resources.
Contrary to what Atrium lobbyists and executives are telling legislators, this repeal would fundamentally change healthcare in North Carolina. A change of this magnitude must be, at a minimum, discussed and debated in a public forum such as a legislative committee. It creates a big winner, Atrium Health, in a healthcare environment where legislators need to be asking more questions to protect North Carolinians. Don’t let this last-minute addition pass without review.
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