NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ — HCA marked its 40th anniversary during a special program for employees today at the company’s corporate office.
The event featured HCA Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Dr. Thomas Frist, Jr. and HCA Chairman and CEO, Jack O. Bovender, Jr., who spoke about HCA’s founding, mission and tradition of caring for patients, employees and the surrounding communities. The “Our History of Caring” program was a prelude to HCA’s annual Caring for the Community employee giving campaign, which begins this week.
“When we started HCA 40 years ago, we set out to provide communities in the Sun Belt with access to better quality healthcare,” said Frist. “My father, Jack Massey, Henry Hooker and I could have never conceived that HCA would grow into a company whose caregivers perform about 5% of many healthcare procedures in the U.S. and that Nashville would become a healthcare hub. I’m so proud of the impact our caregivers and employees have had over all these years as we’ve focused on treating our patients.”
A long-time cornerstone of Nashville’s healthcare industry, HCA was founded in 1968 by Frist, his father Dr. Thomas Frist, Sr., local businessman Henry Hooker and entrepreneur Jack Massey when Park View Hospital incorporated in May and became Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) in August of that year.
“I’ve spent almost my entire career with HCA because the principles Tommy, Dr. Frist. Sr. and our other founders believed in — putting patients first and treating people with dignity — are deeply ingrained in the bedrock of our company’s culture,” said Bovender. “It is because our employees and caregivers live these values everyday that HCA has prospered for 40 years.”
At its founding, HCA was one of the nation’s first hospital companies. HCA worked closely with local physicians and used innovative business practices and private capital to improve quality and efficiency. The company grew rapidly in its early years, focusing on a core group of market-leading hospitals using its financial resources, management capability and clinical expertise.
Today, HCA is a leading provider of healthcare services, with locally-managed facilities that include approximately 169 hospitals and approximately 113 freestanding surgery centers in 20 states and London, England. HCA affiliates employ approximately 180,000 people. The company has developed industry-leading patient safety initiatives to prevent healthcare-associated infections like MRSA and bar-code systems to help prevent medication errors.
The company has produced multiple generations of executives who have gone on to start or lead other healthcare companies in Nashville. Over the past several decades, three new health care industry segments were founded or fostered in Nashville — hospital management, freestanding outpatient surgery centers, and physician practice management groups. Today the Middle Tennessee area is home to nearly 300 healthcare companies operating on a multi-state, national, or international basis.
According to an economic study by the Nashville Health Care Council, Nashville’s healthcare industry has a total economic impact of $18.3 billion in the Nashville region. Additionally, it is the area’s largest non-governmental employer, with 95,000 people directly employed in the industry, and it accounts for more than 154,000 jobs related to healthcare.
All references to “Company” and “HCA” as used throughout this document refer to HCA Inc. and its affiliates.
HCA
CONTACT: Investors, Mark Kimbrough, +1-615-344-2688; or Media, EdFishbough, +1-615-344-2810, both for HCA
Web site: http://www.hcahealthcare.com/
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