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]