Pandemic is financial bonanza for HCA

CEO says ‘disciplined operating culture’ enabled record earnings

BY PETER H. LEWIS ASHEVILLE WATCHDOG

Nashville-based HCA Healthcare, which operates Asheville’s Mission Hospital and five other hospitals in Western North Carolina, reported Friday that it made $2.27 billion in profits in the three-month period that ended Sept. 30, triple the amount in the same period last year.

The record earnings coincided with the summer surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations caused by the Delta variant. HCA said COVID patients accounted for 13 percent of all admissions to the chain’s 183 hospitals during the period.

Shares of HCA’s stock have also tripled in price since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic more than 20 months ago, creating a financial bonanza for investors and company executives.

Samuel N. Hazen, HCA’s chief executive officer, credited the company’s record profit margins to a “disciplined operating culture.” He said HCA was on track to use its cash to buy back $8 billion in company stock in 2021. He also announced a 48-cent per share dividend to shareholders.

“During the third quarter we experienced the most intense surge yet of the pandemic, and our colleagues and physicians delivered record levels of patient care to meet the demand caused by the Delta variant,” Hazen said. “Once again, the disciplined operating culture and strong execution by our teams were on display.”

The earnings report came a day after dozens of nurses gathered outside Mission Hospital Oct. 21 to protest what they called unsafe staffing levels at the hospital, which HCA acquired when it took over the nonprofit Mission Health System in 2019. Registered nurses at Mission last year voted to join a labor union, National Nurses United, after complaining about HCA’s policies.

Earlier this year HCA’s board of directors rejected an attempt by shareholders to make quality of patient care more important than financial earnings in setting executive compensation. Hazen will be paid more than $30 million this year, company filings show. William B. Rutherford, HCA’s chief financial officer, said the chain used contract labor, overtime, bonuses, and “whatever it took to staff to the patient load that we had,” resulting in about 10 percent to 12 percent of fulltime staff being placed in premium pay categories. “And as COVID does subside, we expect those premium programs that we implemented during the quarter to subside,” Rutherford said. (Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Peter H. Lewis is a former senior writer and editor at The New York Times. He can be reached at plewis@avlwatchog.org.)

Triple-Win Climate Solutions: Test Your Knowledge of Climate Change

Nature never did betray the heart that loved her. —William Wordsworth, 1798

With so many discoveries about Earth’s climate making the news daily, now is a good time to remind ourselves of the basic facts about climate change and its scientific context.

Try to answer the questions below on your own. The answers, with sources, will appear in next week’s Triple-win column.

1) How do scientists define “climate”? a. the average air temperature of each latitude belt around Earth b. the relative precipitation versus drought on a large region, such as a continent c. the average weather for a large region of Earth and time period, usually three decades d. the weather in fall, winter, spring, and summer over a year

2) How much has the Earth's surface tempera ture risen since the 1880s? a. one-half or .5-degree Fahrenheit b. 1.1-degree Fahrenheit c. about 2 degrees Fahrenheit d. about 3 degrees Fahrenheit c. volcanoes and hurricanes d. industrial production

4) What do Exxon’s own documents, made public this year, show about its media campaigns? a. Exxon lied about the damage to people’s health caused by fossil fuels. b. Exxon buried its own scientists’ research demonstrating that fossil fuel extraction is the main cause of climate change. c. Since 2016 Exxon has spent over $30 million on getting elected officials and the public to think climate change isn’t happening. d. Both a and b e. Answers a, b, and c

5) What did a 2018 US House of Representatives investigation on climate change disinfor mation discover? a. Most lies about climate change come from North Korea. b. Russia causes many Americans to believe, wrongly, that climate change is a “liberal hoax.” c. China causes many Americans to believe, wrongly, that individuals, not corporations, are to blame for most global warming. d. All of the above e. None of the above

7) The American Lung Association’s scientists found that the pollutants that increase global warming also cause which of these conditions? a. more premature births b. childhood asthma c. under-developed lungs in children d. All of the above e. Both b and c

8) Which of these are characteristics of a “peer reviewed” scientific journal? a. Three or more experts in the same field read each article submitted for publication. b. the author’s/authors’ identities are un known to the readers c. The scientific research can be replicated (duplicated) by other scientists who do not work for or with the original researchers. d. all of the above e. None of the above

9) At least what percent of climate scientists con clude that global warming has been happening and that human activity is the main cause? a. 60 percent b. 80 percent c. 97 percent d. 75 percent costs the most? a. coal-fired b. solar-powered c. nuclear power d. wind-powered

11) How much do US taxpayers give to fossil fuel companies annually in federal government “subsidies”? a. Nothing b. $5 billion c. $10 billion d. $15 billion

12) What are the easiest, most cost-effective ways to reduce atmospheric CO2, which is driving global warming? a. capture and store carbon b. plant more trees and restore lost forests c. transition to solar and wind energy to pro duce electricity d. All of the above e. Only a and c

The WNC Climate Action Coalition is an allvolunteer group working to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis in our region.

By WNC CAC volunteer, co-founder and Triple-win. wncclimateaction.com Editor Mary Jane Curry, co-founder WNC Climate

Action Coalition; and Climate Reality® Leader

MJCinWNC@gmail.com Twitter: @WncAction

As a result of the federal disaster declaration for Tropical Storm Fred, free legal help is available to residents of Haywood County through the Disaster Legal Services (DLS) program, which is jointly coordinated by Legal Aid of NC, the NC Bar Association, and the NC Bar Foundation.

Legal Aid will hold free legal clinics on Nov. 5-7 in Haywood and Buncombe Counties to provide assistance to survivors.

A clinic will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6, at Cruso United Methodist Church, 11653 Cruso Rd., Canton.

To make an appointment, call 866.219.5262 on weekdays. For more resources, visit legalaidnc.org/disaster.

Libertarians to host Asheville event

North Carolina’s Libertarian Party will host a launch rally on Sunday, Nov. 7. The purpose of the event will be to promote liberty, to engage volunteers and to hear from Libertarian candidates and party officials. Speakers include Shannon Bray, candidate for United States Senate, David Coatney, candidate for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, and Joe Garcia, Chair of the Libertarian Party of North Carolina. The event begins at 2 p.m. and will be held in the pavilion at Malvern Hills Park, 75 Rumbough Place, Asheville. Refreshments provided.

For more information, email info@coatneyforcongress.com.

Last chance for free tuition at SCC

For the second and likely final time, Southwestern Community College is offering free tuition and fees to North Carolina residents who enroll in at least six hours this spring.

The “SCC Promise” program provides new students as well as those who’ve already enrolled with free tuition and fees so long as they complete the 2021-22 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA); enroll in a minimum of six credit hours; complete the SCC Promise Application and are in-state residents.

“In the fall, a lot of students decided not to take a gap year simply because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Dr. Don Tomas, SCC President. “Anyone who’s thinking about waiting until the fall semester can save a lot of money by starting this spring.”

Free tuition and college fees are available for North Carolina residents for Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 only. This is a “last-option” financial assistance program that provides tuition after all other federal and state funds have been applied.

Anyone interested in more short-term training through SCC’s Career Academies can also get free tuition this fall through the GEER fund. Visit southwesterncc.edu/geer.