Ballad Health

Ballad Health
FormerlyWellmont Health Systems/Mountain States Health Alliance
IndustryHealth care
Founded2018
Headquarters408 N State of Franklin Rd., Johnson City, Tennessee,
United States
Area served
Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky
Number of employees
13,800 [1]
Websitewww.balladhealth.org

Ballad Health is a chain of hospitals headquartered in Johnson City, Tennessee.[2] It includes facilities in Tennessee and Virginia. Some of its locations are also urgent care centers and primary care locations.[3] They operate a blood bank, named Marsh Regional Blood Center.[4]

The healthcare system's website states that its service area includes 29 counties, some of which are in Kentucky and North Carolina.[5]

The current Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ballad Health is Alan Levine.[6] Levine's compensation for 2023 was $3,557,360 plus $247,091 in other payments.[7] Under Levine's leadership, Ballad's strategy has included closing many healthcare centers in rural areas, which has led to a healthcare monopoly across the region.[8] Levine also previously co-chaired the healthcare transition for Governor Rick Scott, whose company was fined a record $1.7 Billion for Medicare and Medicaid fraud.[9]

History

Ballad Health was created in 2018 when Mountain States Health Alliance and Wellmont Health Systems agreed to merge together through the issuance of a certificate of public advantage (COPA) in Tennessee and a similar document known as a cooperative agreement in Virginia.

Ballad Health is a new health system, created specifically to address the most critical healthcare needs of communities in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. This new kind of healthcare organization is made possible through state oversight and was created with the support of local business community, physicians, educators and countless other people who have a stake in improving the health of the Southern Appalachia region.

Lee County Community Hospital, which had closed in 2013, was reopened by Ballad Health in July 2021.[10]

Dennis Barry, who consulted for the Southwest Virginia Health Authority as a monitor, stated that the Ballad merger meant that healthcare access in portions of Virginia did not collapse during the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]

In 2022, they started a virtual urgent care option.[12]

In August, 2023, they posted their first net operating loss for the fiscal year 2023 with a loss of 40 million dollars.[13]

Service area

The system's official service area includes the following counties in the Appalachian region:[14]

Hospitals

Tennessee
Virginia

References

  1. ^ Miller, Nic (February 18, 2022). "Ballad Health announces many initiatives to keep employees after vaccine mandate". www.elizabethton.com.
  2. ^ Floyd, David (April 25, 2021). "Ballad Health keeps eyes on mission during pandemic". Johnson City Press. Retrieved December 20, 2021. 303 Med Tech Parkway - The address is in Johnson City.
  3. ^ Porter-Nichols, Stephanie (February 6, 2023). "Urgent care clinic at Marion hospital reopens". SWVA Today. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  4. ^ Smith, Josh (August 17, 2018). "Ballad chooses Marsh Regional Blood Center as exclusive blood supplier". WJHL. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  5. ^ "About Us". Ballad Health. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
  6. ^ Ballad Health (December 8, 2024). "Leadership". Ballad Health. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  7. ^ ProPublica (December 8, 2024). "Ballad Health Executive Compensation". ProPublica. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  8. ^ Kelman, Brett (December 6, 2024). "Six years into an Appalachia hospital monopoly, patients are fearful and furious". Tennessee Lookout. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  9. ^ Florida Democratic Party (February 25, 2014). "Rick Scott 'oversaw the largest Medicare fraud' in U.S. history, Florida Democratic Party says". PolitiFact. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  10. ^ Keeling, Jeff (March 12, 2021). "Consultant to Va. oversight board: Without merger savings, Lee Co. Community Hospital may not have reopened". WJHL. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
  11. ^ Rife, Luanne (March 11, 2021). "Without Ballad merger, monitor says Virginians could have lost health care when they needed it most". The Roanoke Times. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
  12. ^ Keeling, Jeff (November 16, 2022). "Get 'seen' from home: Ballad rolls out virtual urgent care option". WJHL. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  13. ^ "Ballad operating loss $40 million for fiscal year '23". WJHL. August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  14. ^ "After four years of #BalladHealth, we are proud to serve approximately 1.2 million people across the @AppHighlands region. Every year, our commitment to expanding access to rural healthcare grows stronger". Ballad Health (official Twitter account). February 4, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2022. - Closeup of the image