Harris Regional Hospital, Swain Community Hospital and Haywood Regional Medical Center, all owned by Duke LifePoint, will require the COVID-19 vaccine for all employees. 

Haywood Regional Medical Center, a Duke LifePoint Hospital, announced that Greg Caples has been named its new chief executive officer, effective Sept. 30. 

In 2014, Duke LifePoint Healthcare purchased three hospitals in Western North Carolina with the promise of drastically improving rural health care services. 

Area hospitals finally found some steady financial footing in 2014 after years of floundering, trying to keep their heads above water as providing health care to rural Appalachia became more challenging. 

After a four-month lapse, services from physicians working for hospitals in Clyde, Sylva and Bryson City will be back in-network with UnitedHealthCare as of May 1. These services had been out-of-network since the previous contract lapsed Jan. 1.

UnitedHealthCare and local Duke LifePoint affiliated hospitals have not yet worked out a new contract agreement, which could mean higher medical costs for UnitedHealth policyholders in 2019. 

By Lorna Sterling • Guest Columnist

Like many in the Haywood County community, I am concerned about the transfer of the in-patient hospice unit into the hospital. Like many, I am convinced that this solution diminishes substantially the quality of services hospice can offer. 

The granting of a certificate of need by the state for The Homestead only eight years ago was based on a clear demonstration of need. As the county has continued to age, it is difficult to believe that the need for hospice services has decreased. 

LifePoint Health and RCCH HealthCare Partners have completed their merger and will now begin operating as one united company under the LifePoint Health name. 

A press release issued by Haywood Regional Medical Center on Oct. 26 touted renovations to an existing facility that will provide better building utilization and expansion of patient care services, but that’s not the part of the statement that’s got some local residents upset. 

When retired teacher Villa Brewer went to get her mail Oct. 23, she returned with two interesting letters. One was from the N.C. State Health Plan, reminding her that Oct. 31 is the deadline to change her health insurance plan during open enrollment. The second was from Harris Regional Hospital, stating that the hospital’s current contract with UnitedHealthCare — of which Brewer is a member — will end Jan. 1 unless Harris can negotiate better reimbursement rates from the insurer.