When Macon County residents joined together in 1971 to raise money to buy Angel Hospital and make it a community hospital, the effort was dubbed Operation Heartbeat.

A difficult decision for Mission Health will now present a difficult decision for expecting mothers in Macon County. 

With Mission’s announcement that labor and deliveries at Angel Medical Center in Franklin will cease by July 14, pregnant women will have to decide whether they want to deliver at Harris Regional Hospital — a Duke LifePoint hospital — 25 minutes away in Sylva or travel an hour and a half to deliver at Mission Hospital in Asheville.

Along with the announcement to stop labor and delivery services at Angel Medical Center, Mission Health also announced plans to build a new, state-of-the-art $43 million hospital for the Franklin community.

With the current expansion of its New Generations Family Birthing Center, Harris Regional Hospital couldn’t be in a better position to handle an anticipated influx of patients for labor and delivery services.

Macon County residents have made a clear statement that they oppose Mission Health’s decision to discontinue labor and delivery services at Angel Medical Center in Franklin. 

Mission Health opened a new $7 million medical complex in Haywood County this week offering an array of health care services in a jaw-dropping facility.

The new contract Mission Health signed with The Blood Connection for blood products will affect the American Red Cross’ collections in Western North Carolina, but Red Cross employees and volunteers hope donors will remain loyal to their cause.

Loyal blood donors will no longer see the iconic red cross on the side of the blood mobile next time they give blood at one of Mission Health’s 17 facilities in Western North Carolina.

Mission has signed a new contract with The Blood Connection, a regional blood bank out of Piedmont, South Carolina, to be its sole provider of blood for the next three years.

SEE ALSO: Blood donors show loyalty to Red Cross

A shake-up in the medical world of maternity care and childbirth means more choices for pregnant women in Jackson, Swain and Macon counties, but also heightened competition for the profitable labor and delivery line.

Two new obstetrics practices were launched within weeks of each other this fall, both catering to women in Jackson, Macon, Swain and beyond. The number of existing practices in the region doubled nearly overnight. 

Mission Health plans to expand its presence in Haywood County with a large medical complex housing doctors’ offices and a line of healthcare services.

The move is unwelcome competition for Haywood Regional Medical Center. But to Mission, it’s a reflection of “the strong preference that many Haywood County residents” have already shown by traveling to Asheville.