Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare is expecting its capital spending will be between $5.1 billion and $5.3 billion in 2024, excluding acquisitions.
That is an increase from the $4.7 billion the company spent in 2023, CFO Bill Rutherford said on the company's Jan. 30 earnings call, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha.
"We’re stepping it up because we have a growing occupancy on the inpatient side, and then we have opportunities in the outpatient side to expand our networks further in these fast-growing communities," CEO Sam Hazen said.
Mr. Hazen said that HCA has been consistent over the past few years with how it's allocated its capital between inpatient, outpatient and technology. He expects that to remain the same in 2024. He said that approach has "yielded really strong returns."
"It’s allowed us to meet the demand expectations that exist in the market, and it’s also responded to our physicians in a way that created the capacity or allowed for the clinical technology that they need to practice their medicine," he said.