by Michelle Crouch and Charlotte Ledger, North Carolina Health News
May 14, 2025

By Michelle Crouch

The Charlotte Ledger

The total compensation of Atrium Health’s top executives soared by an average of 41 percent last year, according to newly released data from the hospital system, but information about the salary of Eugene Woods, CEO of Atrium parent Advocate Health, was not included in the release. 

The executive compensation report from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, which does business as Atrium Health, shows double-digit raises across much of Atrium’s senior leadership, with several executives seeing their compensation jump by more than 50 percent. 

The four highest paid executives were:

• Ken Haynes, president of Advocate Health’s southeast region, received $5.07 million in 2024, up 56.6 percent from $3.24 million in 2023.
• Scott Rissmiller, executive vice president and chief physician executive, had compensation of $4.03 million, up 54.3 percent.
• Brett Denton, the system’s top legal officer, saw a 68.5 percent pay increase to $3.87 million. 
• Carol Lovin, chief integration officer and chief of staff, earned $3.6 million, up 57.4 percent. 

Each executive’s total compensation includes their base salary, bonuses, plan-based incentives and other forms of compensation. 

In 2024, Atrium Health reported $12.6 billion in net operating revenue and $1.31 billion in net income, which some ...

by Michelle Crouch and Charlotte Ledger, North Carolina Health News
May 5, 2025

By Michelle Crouch

If you’ve ever been hit with a slew of confusing bills after a hospital stay, had a long wait for an insurance approval or struggled to pay an unexpectedly high medical bill, you know how frustrating health care in North Carolina can be.

In fact, by at least one measure, it’s the worst in the nation: A 2024 Forbes Advisor analysis found that the state had the highest average premium for employer-sponsored insurance that includes a worker and a “plus-one.”

This session, under growing pressure from patients and health care providers, lawmakers in Raleigh are considering a series of bills designed to trim health care costs and improve access.

Advocates say they are cautiously optimistic.

“There seems to be more of an appetite than ever before to try and address some of the pain points,” said Rebecca Cerese, health policy advocate for the North Carolina Justice Center. “It is heartening that they are looking at different mechanisms and trying to figure out some solutions.”

The Ledger/NC Health News has highlighted many of the issues that the General Assembly proposals address. Here’s a look ...

April 1, 2025

Durham, N.C.-based Duke University Health System has completed its $284 million acquisition of Lake Norman Regional Medical Center and related businesses in Mooresville, N.C., from subsidiaries of Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems. See the full article on Becker’s Hospital Review

March 27, 2025

Greensboro, NC — The North Carolina Business Coalition on Health (NCBCH) proudly announced the winners of its 4th Annual Culture of Wellbeing Awards during the NCBCH Spring Forum held last week in Greensboro, North Carolina.​

This year’s award recipients exemplify excellence in workplace wellness and employee wellbeing. Reynolds American, Inc. was recognized as the Large Employer Category Winner, and Atlantic Packaging received top honors in the Small/Midsize Employer Category.​

Employers from across North Carolina applied for this prestigious award, showcasing their comprehensive wellness initiatives and organizational culture efforts. Each year, NCBCH evaluates applicants across five critical components:​

1. Culture, Foundation, and Policies​
2. Program Offerings, Tools, and Incentives​
3. Strategic Planning and Communications​
4. Reporting, Metrics, and Evaluation​
5. Innovation​

“These awards highlight the outstanding work North Carolina employers are doing to foster healthier, more supportive workplaces,” said Jon Rankin, President and CEO of NCBCH. “Reynolds American and Atlantic Packaging have demonstrated exceptional commitment to cultivating a true culture of wellbeing.”​

The Culture of Wellbeing Awards celebrate employers that are not only investing in the health of their workforce but also setting a high standard for organizational excellence, innovation, and strategic wellbeing leadership.​

For more information about the Culture of ...

December 10 from Asheville Citizen Times‘ Jacob Boba:

In a Dec. 6 ruling, a North Carolina Business Court judge dismissed counterclaims HCA Healthcare filed in response to N.C. Attorney Josh Stein’s lawsuit against the Nashville-based for-profit health system.

Stein, North Carolina’s incoming governor, sued HCA in December 2023 alleging HCA breached the terms of its 2019 acquisition of Mission Health by not continuing to provide the level of emergency and trauma care, and oncology services, set forth in an amended asset purchase agreement. HCA purchased the then-nonprofit health system for $1.5 billion.

Read more at the Asheville Citizen Times: https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2024/12/10/in-nc-attorney-general-lawsuit-judge-dismisses-hcas-counterclaims/76863286007/

MONDAY, JULY 1, 2024

RALEIGH

Millions of low- and middle- income North Carolinians are one step closer to medical debt relief. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved on Friday, July 26 Governor Roy Cooper and the NC Department of Health and Human Services’ plan to use the state’s Medicaid program to incentivize hospitals to relieve more than a decade of existing medical debt for eligible North Carolinians and prevent accumulation of new debt going forward.

NCDHHS will now begin working with hospitals to implement the program, which has the potential to relieve a potential $4 billion in existing medical debt for people and families across the state.

“Unlike most other debts, medical debt is not intentional because people don’t choose to get seriously ill or have an accident,” said North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. “Medical debts are often beyond people’s ability to pay, ruining their credit, keeping them from getting credit cards, loans and jobs and sometimes driving them into bankruptcy. That’s why we’re working with hospitals and federal partners to help relieve the burden of medical debt for North Carolina families.”

“Many people struggle with the burden of medical debt, which can cause them to hold off ...

Read full story at Asheville Citizen Times

by Michelle Crouch and Charlotte Ledger, North Carolina Health News
July 1, 2024

By Michelle Crouch

In an initiative that appears to be the first of its kind nationwide, N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper and state health officials unveiled a plan today to boost federal payouts to hospitals that take specific steps to ease the burden of medical debt for low-income patients. 

To participate, hospitals would have to agree to wipe out medical debt dating back to 2014 for large numbers of low- and middle-income patients. They would also have to abide by other conditions, such as offering discounts ranging from 50 percent to 100 percent to those patients, capping interest rates on hospital-held medical debt at 3 percent and agreeing not to report medical debt to credit agencies. 

With the program, the governor and the Department of Health and Human Services aim to address a burgeoning crisis of medical debt in North Carolina, where one out of five residents has medical debt in collections, according to 2022 credit bureau data analyzed by the policy think tank Urban Institute. Only three other states have higher numbers, the data shows. 

Medical debt disproportionately affects Black and Hispanic patients, as well as people living in rural areas. 

“Large ...

The rise of mega-hospitals

by Michelle Crouch and Charlotte Ledger, North Carolina Health News
April 22, 2024

By Michelle Crouch

When it comes to growth, it seems like hospitals can’t get enough of it.

Across the country, a tidal wave of hospital mergers and acquisitions in recent years has created multi-billion-dollar hospital giants that serve large swaths of the population. For example, just in North Carolina:

• Atrium Health’s massive combination with Advocate Aurora in 2022 formed the country’s third-largest public health care system. The system’s $28 billion footprint now stretches south to Georgia and across the country to Illinois and WIsconsin.
• HCA Healthcare’s controversial 2019 purchase of Mission Health in Asheville brought the nation’s largest for-profit hospital system into the state. With $65 billion in revenue and 186 hospitals in 20 states and the United Kingdom, HCA is a health care juggernaut.
• Novant Health is smaller, but it, too, is focused on expansion. In the past year, the Winston Salem-based system opened a new hospital in south Charlotte, purchased a medical center in Pender County and three coastal South Carolina hospitals, and inked a $320 million deal to acquire two Lake Norman-area hospitals.

In all, U.S. health ...

CHARLOTTE, N.C.- April 3, 2024–  Winners of the 3rd annual employer Culture of Wellbeing Award were announced by the North Carolina Business Coalition on Health (NCBCH) at the NCBCH Spring Forum in Greensboro.  The award recognizes the best employer wellbeing programs across the state; companies committed to improving the health and well-being of their employees.

Employer programs were rated across five components:
– Culture, Foundation, Policies
– Program Offerings / Tools / Incentives
– Strategic Planning / Communications
– Reporting Metrics & Evaluation
– Innovation

Two awards are presented based on employer size.  Volvo Group North America was declared the winner in the “Large Employer” category, and City of Rocky Mount in the “Small/Midsize Employer” category. 

“We are so excited that we were honored to be selected this year as the large employer winner of this award” said Angie Smallwood,  Manager of Health and Welfare Benefits Strategy at Volvo Group North America.  

Chrisie Tyson, Wellness Coordinator, accepted the award for City of Rocky Mount stating, ”it is with gratitude and great humility on behalf of the City of Rocky Mount we were chosen by the North Carolina Business Coalition on Health as a testament to our collective collaborations to bring well-being to our employees, companies, and ...