Nashville, Tenn.-based Hospital Corporation of America will donate up to $1 million in aid to three international organizations' Nepal earthquake relief efforts.
The 168-hospital operator will donate $250,000 to Doctors Without Borders and $250,000 to MedShare International, a nonprofit group that redistributes surplus supplies and equipments to those in need. HCA will then match up to $500,000 of donations from HCA employees and vendors to the American Red Cross for aid in Nepal.
"As a healthcare provider with approximately 225,000 employees who treat millions of patients every year, our people have dedicated their professional lives to caring for others, and we have a long history of supporting humanitarian efforts," Milton Johnson, HCA chairman and CEO, said in a statement. "We believe our employees and vendors will be eager to support the critical and significant relief efforts that are just underway."
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on April 25, and the official death toll exceeded 5,000 as of April 29. The quake was the worst to hit Nepal since 1934, according to BBC, and caused major destruction to one of the least developed countries in the world. Coordinated international relief efforts are complicated by the country having one international airport, landslide-blocked roads and smaller airports that cannot handle large influxes of supplies.