History and Growth
- HCA Healthcare was founded in 1968 in Nashville, Tennessee by Thomas F. Frist Sr., Thomas F. Frist Jr., and Jack C. Massey.
- The founders aimed to bring together hospitals to deliver patient-focused care and improve the practice of medicine.
- The company began with Nashville's Park View Hospital, which was founded by Thomas F. Frist Sr. in 1960.
- When HCA filed its initial public offering in 1969, it included 11 hospitals.
- By the end of 1969, HCA operated 26 hospitals and had 3,000 beds.
- In the 1970s, HCA Healthcare experienced rapid growth and consolidation in the industry.
- HCA acquired General Care Corporation, General Health Services, Hospital Affiliates International, and Health Care Corporation in the early 1980s.
- By the end of 1981, HCA operated 349 hospitals with over 49,000 beds.
- In 1987, HCA spun off HealthTrust, a privately owned 104-hospital company.
- In 1988, HCA completed a $5.1 billion leveraged management buyout led by chairman Thomas F. Frist Jr.
- In 2006, HCA became a private company for the third time through a merger with a private investor group.
- In 2010, HCA announced its plan to go public again as HCA Holdings, Inc.
- In 2017, the corporation was renamed HCA Healthcare.
- In 2018, HCA Healthcare was ranked No. 67 on the Fortune 500 list.
Facilities
- As of 2020, HCA operates 185 hospitals and over 2,000 sites of care in 21 U.S. states and the United Kingdom.
- Florida and Texas have a significant number of HCA hospitals, with 47 hospitals and 31 surgery centers in Florida and 45 hospitals and 632 affiliated sites of care in Texas.
- HCA announced plans to build 3 new hospitals in Florida in 2021.
- HCA will build 5 new hospitals in Texas, according to a report in 2022.
- HCA has a strong presence in Tennessee, where it began, with 13 hospitals as of 2019.
Partnerships and Acquisitions
- HCA Healthcare partners with Florida International University to address nursing faculty shortage.
- LCMC Health and Tulane University announce a partnership.
- General Catalyst and HCA Healthcare collaborate on digital innovation.
- HCA Healthcare completes purchase of majority stake in Galen College of Nursing.
- HCA Healthcare acquires technology and analytics company Valify.
Controversies and Scandals
- HCA faced lawsuits in 1993 regarding questionable Medicare billing practices.
- In 1997, HCA underwent a federal investigation for keeping two sets of books, leading to the resignation of the chairman and CEO.
- The federal probe resulted in HCA pleading guilty to 14 felonies and paying over $2 billion in fines and penalties for defrauding federal health care programs.
- In 2005, HCA executives were sued for accounting fraud and insider trading.
- HCA settled the lawsuit in 2007, paying $20 million to shareholders without admitting wrongdoing.
- HCA hospital workers raised concerns about the lack of PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
- The lack of PPE at HCA hospitals during the pandemic sparked public outcry.
- The North Carolina Department of Justice expressed concerns about citizen complaints regarding HCA-managed medical facilities in western North Carolina.
- In December 2023, the Attorney General of North Carolina sued HCA for violating the terms of the agreement allowing the purchase of Mission Health.
International Expansion and Other Developments
- HCA International caters for around half of all private patients in London.
- Main hospital sites operated by HCA in the UK include The Christie Private Care, The Wilmslow Hospital, The Harley Street Clinic, HCA at The Shard, The Lister Hospital, London Bridge Hospital, The Portland Hospital for Women and Children, The Princess Grace Hospital, and The Wellington Hospital.
- HCA opened urgent care walk-in centers at London Bridge Hospital and the Portland Hospital in March 2018, with short wait times for patients.
- HCA Healthcare promotes for-profit healthcare in the UK.
- HCA Healthcare operates the Harborne Hospital in the UK.
- HCA Healthcare completed the purchase of the Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah, Georgia.
- HCA Healthcare announced a partnership with Google to develop healthcare algorithms using patient records.
- HCA Healthcare entered a deal with venture capital firm General Catalyst to develop digital solutions and sold its healthcare app development firm PatientKeeper.
- HCA sold its hospitals in Switzerland in 2007.
- HCA Healthcare is a significant provider of clinical and medical education, with 56 teaching hospitals in 14 states and involvement in medical education and training programs.
This article may lend undue weight to certain ideas, incidents, or controversies. The specific problem is: long list of controversies that may be just a compilation of recent news on this organization rather than a relevant list of events (December 2023) |
HCA Healthcare is an American for-profit operator of health care facilities that was founded in 1968. It is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and, as of May 2020, owned and operated 186 hospitals and approximately 2,000 sites of care, including surgery centers, freestanding emergency rooms, urgent care centers and physician clinics in 21 states and the United Kingdom. As of 2023, HCA Healthcare is ranked #66 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
 | |
| Formerly | HCA Holdings, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Type | Public |
| Industry | Health care |
| Founded | 1968 Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Founders | Thomas F. Frist Sr., Thomas F. Frist Jr., Jack C. Massey |
| Headquarters | Nashville, Tennessee , U.S. |
Number of locations | 186 hospitals, approximately 2,000 sites of care located in 21 states and the United Kingdom |
Area served | United States and the United Kingdom |
Key people | Sam Hazen (CEO) John Reay (CEO, HCA UK) |
| Revenue |  US$60.23 billion (2022) |
| US$3.759 billion (2020) | |
Number of employees | 235,000 (2021) |
| Website | hcahealthcare |
The company engaged in illegal accounting and other crimes in the 1990s that resulted in the payment of more than $2 billion in federal fines and other penalties, and the dismissal of the CEO Rick Scott by the board of directors.
