HCA's Mission Hospital penalized nearly $30,000 for COVID-19 violations

The North Carolina hospital was fined for failing to conduct N95 respirator fit tests, among other violations.

HCA's Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina has been cited and fined nearly $30,000 for not adequately protecting nurses and other healthcare workers from COVID-19.

The Occupational Health and Safety Division (OSH) of the North Carolina Department of Labor concluded its occupational health and safety investigation and issued citations for:

• Failing to conduct an annual fit test for employees who were required to wear an N95 respirator
• Failing to establish a record of employee fit testing
• Failing to notify the North Carolina Department of Labor of the death of an employee due to COVID-19 in a timely manner. HCA waited nearly two weeks to notify the Department of Labor of the death, according to the citation.
• Failing to report each work-related COVID-19 inpatient hospitalization within 24 hours of learning about the hospitalization. HCA delayed notifying the Department of Labor about an employee hospitalization for more than a month, the citation states.

Fines for the issued citations totaled $29,775.

Dozens of Mission nurses participated in interviews and walk-throughs with state OSH investigators since October 2021, according to a press release issued by National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU).

The RNs also have claimed and protested unsafe working conditions.

"We union nurses have been fighting for a safer workplace throughout the pandemic," said Kerri Wilson, RN in the cardiac step-down unit at Mission Hospital. "Our workplace is safer because we spoke up, we reported safety violations, and we took the time to show OSH investigators what needed to be corrected."

Susan Fischer, an RN in the float pool, applauded North Carolina's Department of Labor for ensuring that Mission's nurses and healthcare workers remain safe.

"Mission was not ensuring that we had proper-fitting personal protective equipment," she said, "and now the hospital has been cited for failing to protect us and has made corrections."