The mother of a patient who has been at Mission Hospital for nearly four years did not receive due process when a judge found her in contempt of court and ordered her jailed until her son leaves the hospital, Buncombe County public defenders and independent legal experts say. Tiffany Dobbs’ civil rights may have been violated […]| Asheville Watchdog
Attorneys for Mission Hospital have filed a motion requesting a judge appoint a referee in the case of Eric Penland Jr., a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic patient who’s remained at the hospital for nearly four years. According to the April 8 motion, his mother, Tiffany Dobbs, shouldn’t be able to leave jail until she provides documents and […]| Asheville Watchdog
I think it’s safe to say that no one from around these parts will be naming a child Helene any time soon. As in the next few centuries. Nearly one year after Tropical Storm Helene ripped through western North Carolina, we’re all forever changed by it, and usually not in such a good way. We […] The post Opinion: It’s been an unforgettable, exhausting and sometimes exhilarating year, thanks to Helene appeared first on Asheville Watchdog.| Asheville Watchdog
Asheville Watchdog has received honors in two statewide journalism contests for a range of work, including its investigative journalism focused on Mission Hospital. Andrew R. Jones received first place in Investigative Reporting in the online division of the North Carolina Press Association’s annual contest. His winning portfolio included stories about a Mission patient dying in […] The post Asheville Watchdog honored in 2 statewide journalism competitions appeared first on Asheville Watc...| Asheville Watchdog
Nearly 40 employees connected to North Carolina’s Medicaid Ombudsman program, including nine at Pisgah Legal Services, will lose their jobs by the end of the year because of a $33 million shortfall in the state’s Medicaid Managed Care Oversight Fund. The Medicaid Ombudsman program, which connects thousands of beneficiaries to resources and advice and which […] The post $33 million budget shortfall leads to widespread layoffs in Medicaid Ombudsman program appeared first on Asheville Wa...| Asheville Watchdog
A Mission Hospital cardiac patient died in late July after becoming disconnected from telemetry monitoring for at least an hour, and hospital administration repeatedly refused to hold an emergency meeting requested by union nurses about the incident, according to union leaders and emails obtained by Asheville Watchdog. Multiple people, who spoke on the condition of […] The post Mission cardiac patient dies after telemetry monitor disconnection; hospital declines nurses’ request for emer...| Asheville Watchdog
Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers: Question: I’m happy that the (Blue Ridge) Parkway is now open from Bent Creek up towards the Pisgah Inn, but what is going on with the section north of the Folk Art Center? It would seem pretty easy to just open the section from […] The post Answer Man: Blue Ridge Parkway section near Folk Art Center reopened? How much North Carolina Education Lottery money actually goes to education? appeared first on Asheville Wa...| Asheville Watchdog
State inspectors have returned to Mission Hospital for the second time in four months following complaints from nurses and a coalition of doctors, patient advocates and elected officials about recent deaths they say could have been prevented with better staffing and better telemonitoring procedures. “NCDHHS-DHSR staff are on-site at Mission Hospital,” North Carolina Department of […] The post State investigators return to Mission Hospital on same day as group calls for better staffing, ...| Asheville Watchdog
It’s no secret the Asheville Police Department has had a little trouble when it comes to its recent run of police chiefs. First off, just me using the term “run of police chiefs” doesn’t exactly instill confidence in the city’s hiring for the top cop job. You may be thinking the high turnover rate might […] The post Opinion: Tenure of APD’s Chief Lamb makes a good argument for hiring internally appeared first on Asheville Watchdog.| Asheville Watchdog
Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers: Question: Two folks have recently asked me about the letters water customers are receiving now that state, “Your service line is of unknown service line material.” They’re confused about why the Water Department is sending these out now, if this means their water contains […] The post Answer Man: Confusing water letters regarding ‘unknown service line material?’ Montford bridge over I-240 losing concrete? D...| Asheville Watchdog
The warning shot fired at the Buncombe County Commission came in an email dated Sept. 4. The message: Proceeding with an ambitious program to give meaningful reparations to the community’s Black citizens may land you in court. As Asheville Watchdog reported last week, the sender was Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, head of the […] The post Democracy Watch: The near death of the well-intentioned plan for Asheville’s racial reparations might have been self-inflicted appe...| Asheville Watchdog
A quadriplegic patient who remained at Mission Hospital for nearly four years despite the hospital suing him and his parents for his refusal to leave, is receiving care at a Virginia nursing and rehabilitation facility. Eric Penland was transported from Mission in late May following a judge’s order, but his mother, Tiffany Dobbs, wants the […]| Asheville Watchdog
Among the many topics that draw continued interest — and ire — from you good readers, the I-26 widening project has to be right at the top of the list. No, not the I-26 Connector project, which we will get to complain about for roughly the next decade. I’m talking about the widening of I-26 […]| Asheville Watchdog
In my career, I’ve often considered myself a professional pesterer. As journalists, we have a license — and a responsibility — to pursue information vigorously, to the point of being obnoxious at times. Often, it takes a while to get said information, but that’s part of the job. I bring all this up because back […]| Asheville Watchdog
Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers: Question: Regarding the bear situation, my concern is that nothing kills these bears. Did you ever see a roadkill bear, like a deer, raccoon, possum or squirrel? So, every year these mamas are producing one or two more cubs, so every year the population […]| Asheville Watchdog
When Andrew Crater was a young professional cyclist, riding and racing all over the world, he settled in Asheville to train. It’s no surprise, he said, that Jake Hill and Lennie Antonelli did the same. “There might be equally beautiful places, but they’re not going to be any better than what we have here,” said […]| Asheville Watchdog
Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers: Question: I have yet to see a single bike rider on Merrimon Avenue. Meanwhile, the car traffic continues to get worse. When will city officials admit making a mistake and go back to two lanes each way? My answer: I’m pretty sure if I […]| Asheville Watchdog
Ask just about any regular cyclist out there about their close calls or abusive encounters with motorists, and you’ll get an earful. “Everybody I talk to — almost everybody — has been hit by a car,” cyclist Abby Walker told me last week. “You couldn’t find a cyclist in Asheville that doesn’t have at least […]| Asheville Watchdog
Just more than a month after judges made what some saw as the final decision in a case over new hospital beds for Buncombe County and the surrounding region, Mission Hospital signaled in the state’s highest court that it’s not giving up a nearly three-year fight over which health system gets to expand in western […]| Asheville Watchdog
The North Carolina Supreme Court has granted Mission Hospital’s request for a temporary stay of a lower court’s decision to grant 67 acute care beds to AdventHealth nearly three years ago. The order, delivered without comment, came just two days after attorneys for Mission Hospital filed a motion seeking the temporary stay and arguing that […]| Asheville Watchdog