Health department hears mixed reviews on Ballad COPA

BLOUNTVILLE – Reviews are mixed on Ballad Health and the agreement that allows it to operate, according to more than 20 speakers at a public hearing Tuesday night. The hearing, hosted by the Tennessee Department of Health at Northeast State Community College Center for the Performing Arts, was a forum for the public to comment on Ballad and its Certificate of Public Advantage. The COPA is the health department's written approval that governs the health care system and protects it from antitrust laws, with the idea that competition is replaced with state supervision and regulation. Speakers shared both praise and concerns, with a roughly even split between positive and negative perspectives. Health Commissioner John R. Dunn, COPA Director Jim Mathis and COPA Assistant Director Judi Knecht sat onstage to listen to speakers. Ballad representatives were present in the audience. State Health Commissioner John R. Dunn, COPA Director Jim Mathis and COPA Assistant Director Judi Knecht listen to speakers. JOY MAZUR/SIX RIVERS MEDIA Some commenters shared stories of excellent care, like cancer patient Liz Phillips. "I didn't want to be a victim. I wanted to be an advocate, and they worked with me," she said about her medical team of all Ballad doctors. Emma Lamons and Andrea Blackwell, both participants of Ballad's Strong Futures recovery program, spoke about how it helped them become sober and reconnect with their children. "There was a time where sobriety wasn't even in my mind. And then I lost custody of my youngest daughter," Lamons said. "[Strong Futures] provided me with resources that I didn't even know that our community had." Other speakers expressed concerns about quality of care and lack of competition and accountability. Dr. Raymond Faber, a former Ballad employee, spoke about being fired from the health system. "I stuck my neck out for Medicare fraud admissions," he said. "They fire people who really care about this community." Dr. Raymond Faber, a former Ballad employee, spoke about being fired from the health system. "I stuck my neck out for Medicare fraud admissions," he said. JOY MAZUR/SIX RIVERS MEDIA Rebecca Simerly, a disability advocate and Ballad patient, spoke about the struggle for families who have to drive hours for specialty care. Her family has had to travel out of the region for both cardiac testing and autism care. "When COPA was first approved, we were promised it would protect rural health care, keep quality services local and make things better," she said. "But that promise has been broken." After the hearing, Simerly said she was grateful a lot of people spoke on "both sides of the track." "We do have some providers that are excellent," she said. "But I'm afraid, literally afraid, that we're going to lose them as well." In an email to Six Rivers Media before the hearing, Ballad Chief Strategic Communications Officer Molly Luton said Ballad's nursing turnover and emergency room wait times have decreased below other health care systems. She added that the thousands of Google Reviews for Ballad hospitals rate it higher than other systems like Vanderbilt University and University of Tennessee. "The sum total of these opinions is that our major hospitals outperform most others that people might point to as good hospitals," she wrote. "This is an important fact for our team members, who work hard every day to deliver good care." Luton also said the issues Ballad faces — like the labor shortage prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic and ER wait times — are true for hospitals everywhere. "The only difference," she wrote, "is that Ballad Health is subject to these public meetings, where people self-select." The hearing format didn't include responses from health department representatives, but Mathis said all comments will be reviewed closely by staff. Bill Christian, associate director for the health department's communications department, noted in a prior email to Six Rivers Media that the department fields and responds to all COPA-related comments received throughout the year.