Asheville, N.C.-based Mission Hospital has lacked adequate pharmacy staffing for years, resulting in harmful medication errors, according to the Asheville Watchdog.
After Andrea Leone, PharmD, posted on LinkedIn in May about safety concerns tied to the department's understaffing, she was fired. Dr. Leone filed a wrongful termination lawsuit Dec. 13, which claims that leadership said the post shared "proprietary information related to how staffing and productivity is measured" but did not specify how such information is proprietary.
Dr. Leone told the Watchdog her time at the hospital was defined by constant turnover.
"All I'm doing is hiring, interviewing, onboarding and losing people," said Dr. Leone, who joined the hospital in October 2021.
Dr. Leone's lawsuit says she was supposed to supervise a medication reconciliation team of three pharmacists, two residents, 10 technicians and three interns. Instead, the team has two full-time pharmacists, one pharmacist on call and high turnover due to burnout and low pay, according to Dr. Leone's former colleagues.
A spokesperson told the outlet in September that the hospital has made market pay increases and is actively recruiting to fill open positions in the medication reconciliation team.
Her team was 60% staffed when a hiring freeze began in late 2023, according to the lawsuit. Amid poor recruitment and retention, she said the risk of medication errors increased.
"We disagree with the claims in this lawsuit and will defend ourselves through the legal process," a hospital spokesperson told Becker's.
Throughout 2023, there were at least 291 medication errors, including 17 harmful errors, according to a presentation Dr. Leone shared with pharmacy leadership and physicians. Due to short staffing, she said the team completed detailed medication histories for 70% of high-risk older adults and only 30% of all admitted patients in 2023.
"The errors that we were seeing were almost entirely preventable," Dr. Leone told the Watchdog.
The hospital — one of the 186 operated by Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare — has experienced an exodus of hospitalists, oncologists, physicians, nurses, urologists and neurologists throughout recent years, according to the Watchdog.
In February, CMS placed HCA Mission in immediate jeopardy after three patient deaths, and following a revisit with no reported deficiencies, CMS lifted the immediate jeopardy in June. With scrutiny from state officials, several hospital leaders left in 2024, including the chief medical officer and CEO.