Welcome to DKos Asheville. This space appears each weekend to share links to news and opinion from Asheville and Western North Carolina. The floor is open for comment and discussion. Wishing all a good day from this beautiful part of the world.
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CMS regulations define immediate jeopardy as noncompliance that “has placed the health and safety of recipients in its care at risk for serious injury, serious harm, serious impairment or death. … [It] is the most serious deficiency type, and carries the most serious sanctions. … An immediate jeopardy situation is one that is clearly identifiable due to the severity of its harm or likelihood for serious harm and the immediate need for it to be corrected to avoid further or future serious harm.”
Mission Hospital has been officially informed by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that it is in “immediate jeopardy” related to deficiencies in care, according to an internal email obtained by Asheville Watchdog.
The finding is the most severe sanction possible for a hospital and starts a 23-day clock for Mission to produce a plan for fixing the problems or risk losing its Medicare and Medicaid funding.
The notification comes 44 days after inspectors from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, on behalf of CMS, recommended the hospital be put in immediate jeopardy, citing nine deficiencies related to incidents occurring over 19 months. The Watchdog was first to report the recommendation on Jan. 11.
If Mission fails to correct the deficiencies to the satisfaction of regulators by the deadline, it could threaten the financial viability of the hospital, which receives a majority of its funding from Medicare and Medicaid.
Author’s note: the following story and Press Release are dear to my heart. For several years I was the Coordinator of an after-school program for middle school students in one of our mountain counties. Through grant writing and community organizing, I grew a fledgling program from twelve to over seventy children during my six-year tenure. The focus population of the program depended on identifying “at risk” kids who were often on their final chance for changing their behavior before being sent to a juvenile correction facility. Key to this program was working closely with the county’s Juvenile Crime Prevention Council and the county’s court system. Eventually I became the chair of our JCPC. Together we saved many kids from incarceration and helped heal many families.
BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — The Buncombe County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council (JCPC) is once again boosting its programs that keep kids out of the courtroom.
For years, Buncombe County has been allocating state funding to organizations that help at-risk juveniles. That effort continues, as on Friday, Feb. 2, officials announced over $70,000 going to the same cause.
“Not all cases need to be monitored by court counselors,” JCPC Chairman Jorge Redmond said on Friday, Feb. 2. “Kids are out of school and not getting instruction. Does that really help them?”
The JCPC points first-time or low-level offenders to efforts like Teen Court to address whatever issues the juvenile in question may be facing. It's an idea that helps young ones while not taking them out of the classroom.
“We’ve got to get away from in- and out-of-school suspension,” Redmond said. “We have to get away from the pipeline to prison going through petitions in the courthouse.”
Community Bulletin
Press release from Buncombe County:
The Buncombe County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council (JCPC) is now accepting proposals for fiscal year 2024-25 with $73,357 in state funding for local nonprofits and public agencies working to serve youth involved in the juvenile justice system. The JCPC addresses the gaps in youth services by promoting intervention, treatment, and aftercare strategies and programs that support youth, strengthen families, and advance community safety. Click here for Request for Proposals (RFP)
The JCPC is seeking innovative projects designed to address identified needs in our community highlighted in the linked Summary Risk & Needs Report, December, 2023. Based on these factors and possible gaps in the Continuum of Services, the following program typeswill be considered for funding:
- Comprehensive Clinical Assessments (CCAs)/Individual or Group Counseling/Substance Use Counseling Services
- Restorative Services/Restorative Justice
Applicants should provide program services that are shown to be effective with youth and families involved with the juvenile justice system (see NCDPS JCPC Minimum Standards here). Services should be outcome-based, have an evaluation component, and demonstrate an awareness and sensitivity to Racial and Ethnic Disparities that exist in the County.
Important information for the grant application process:
- Program application orientation workshops will be virtually on Tuesday, Feb. 7 from 10-11 a.m. or Friday, Feb. 9 from 1-2 p.m. New applicants are required to attend (prior applicants may also attend). Contact Lorraine Williams, NCDPS Area Consultant, at Lorraine.williams@ncdps.gov or 828-405-4056 to register.
- Applications are due Monday, March 5, 2024, by 5 p.m. Application information available here. Applications must be submitted online in NC ALLIES and by submitting 18 hard copies to 200 College St., Suite 300, Asheville, 28801.
- Applicants will be required to present their proposal during an all-day Allocations Hearing on Wednesday, March 13 online or in-person at the 1stfloor conference room of 200 College St., Asheville.
- All applications must include the required 30% grant match requirements.
For more info, please contact: Buncombe County JCPC Administrator,Hannah.Legerton@buncombecounty.org, 828-250-4087
Half of a million dollars is coming to the Shiloh community in Asheville.
The Shiloh Community Association is partnering with Dogwood Health Trust and the WNC Bridge Foundation to make its revitalization efforts a reality.
The $500,000 grant will go toward hiring a neighborhood navigator for the Shiloh community who will ultimately support the creation of a community-based strategy that will address housing and neighborhood revitalization.
Shiloh Community Association president Sophie Dixon was born and raised in Asheville and has lived in the Shiloh neighborhood for more than 50 years.
“A lot of people who were born and raised in Asheville were raised in Shiloh, and so we do what we can to try and grow it, support it and keep it going,” she said.
This fall, my parents brought us a quarter of beef as a surprise. I stacked the white-wrapped packages — soup bones, stew meat, rib roasts, steaks — into my chest freezer with gratitude. A quarter of cow is a costly and sumptuous gift.
Just a couple weeks later, though, my doctor put me on a plant-based diet. She pointed to the Plant-Based Food Pyramid on the exam room wall. A note on the side instructed “Avoid: Mammals (pork, beef, etc.).”
I like plants. I do. When I found out you can get unlimited refills on broccoli sides at Red Robin, my happy eyes almost popped out of my head. But I also grew up in upstate New York in a community of farmers who regarded vegetarianism as a near mania. With such a rearing, could I really eschew mammals and also, as per the chart, “Reduce to 1 serving/day, then 2/week: eggs, dairy, seafood, birds”? All that dietary advice is stick with no carrot at all. Or rather, too many carrots and not enough beef sticks.
Downtown Marshall's all-organic/all-vegetarian eatery Grateful Organic Diner, formerly known as CBD Cafe, will close, owner Peter Ford announced.
He said the restaurant will be closing because he plans to move to Charleston, South Carolina.
"For those of you that know me, know that I have been dealing with some personal things for a few months and it has come down to me having to relocate to Charleston, SC," Ford said in a Jan. 28 Facebook post.
Grateful Organic Diner, which is now up for sale, opened in January 2022 and carried a full menu of vegetarian choices, and offered live music and comedy shows, as well. The restaurant's 2022 opening generated considerable excitement in Madison County due to it being one of the only restaurants in Western North Carolina that featured mostly all-vegan offerings.
Ford, who has been a vegetarian since 1989, said he felt there was a considerable clientele for vegetarian food in Madison County.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus returns Feb. 9 – 11, Greenville, SC
When the Greatest Show on Earth returns to the Bon Secours Wellness Arena Feb. 9 – 11, it will not be your parents’ circus. This one is new, reimagined, animal-free and embracing the best of live performing arts and technology, all in one daring show. Comedy, stunts, acrobatics, extreme sports, music and more mean there is something for everyone – sometimes all at once.
Jan Damm, performing as the character Nick Nack, joins Lauren Irving and Alex Stickels to guide audiences through the show.
“It's still a show for children of all ages,” Damm said. “We still call it the greatest show on Earth, but we reimagined what the greatest show on Earth would be in 2024 – so this is an all new version of the show that uses human achievement, music, dance, acrobatics, and comedy to create a one of a kind experience that will delight the child in all of us. The circus has always been about reinvention, and we can't bring back the exact same show that we did a generation ago. We can bring back the feeling, and it also opens up possibilities to use technology. We have a little robo dog in the show that I interact with and it delights the audience. And we can use video, we can use modern costuming and lighting to create something that you've never seen before.”
Thanks for stopping by, wishing all a fine weekend.
“Be safe out there.” Lamont Cranston