The Hospital Corporation of America, based in Nashville, Tenn., is one of the world's largest for-profit healthcare providers and the largest in the United States based on profit.
- HCA was founded in 1968 as Nashville's Park View Hospital. When the founders wanted to manage and expand Park View, it grew into HCA — which now operates 165 hospitals and 115 freestanding surgical centers in 20 states and the United Kingdom. A total of 159 of the hospitals deliver general, acute care, whereas five are psychiatric hospitals and one is a rehabilitation hospital. Learn more about HCA's history here.
- Most HCA hospitals do not conduct much medical research, but some are affiliated with medical schools and offer residency programs. In 2012, HCA West Florida made plans to address the physician shortage in the hopes HCA could retain those physicians after they complete training. HCA added two new GME programs at Brooksville, Fla.-based Oak Hill Hospital and Hudson, Fla.-based Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point. These programs began July 2014. Largo (Fla.) Medical Center, Northside Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., and St. Petersburg (Fla.) General Hospital also sponsor GME programs in the HCA West Florida network.
- HCA employs a geographical strategy. The company develops markets in densely populated, urban areas with increasing populations. Its largest markets are in Florida, Texas, Tennessee and Virginia.
- HCA also puts a focus on developing markets with strong payer mixes. Based on the 2013 annual report, 32.9 percent of revenue came from Medicare and managed Medicare payments, 8.9 percent from Medicaid and managed Medicaid, 7.8 percent from uninsured patients and 54.6 percent came from managed care and other insurers. The remaining is attributed to international insurers and other sources.
- HCA has a market capitalization of $29.69 billion. It outperformed the S&P 500 over the last 52 weeks, gaining 54.07 percent, according to The New York
Times DealBook. Stock prices topped out at $73.94 per share in September, the 52-week high.
- Richard M. Bracken, the company's previous CEO, was the 40th highest paid CEO in America and the 5th highest paid CEO in healthcare, according to The New York Times.He was compensated $15.5 million in 2013, including salary, bonuses, perks and stock options. His base salary was $1,399,973. Mr. Bracken now serves as chairman to the HCA and R. Milton Johnson, previously the president and CFO, is now the company's CEO.
- Third quarter revenues totaled $9.22 billion this year, a 9 percent increase from the third quarter in 2013, which totaled $8.46 billion. Net income was reported at $518 million compared to last year's third quarter net income of $365 million. The corporation projected 2014 revenues in the range of $36.5 billion to $37 billion.
- The corporation saw a 4.1 percent increase in hospital admissions this quarter, contributing to the 9 percent increase in revenue. Mr. Johnson also credited reforms from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and improved cash flow from core operations for the corporation's $1 billion growth in the past year, according to a report.
- The company reported investing $5.5 billion since 2011, and it projected $2.2 billion of investments in 2014. The money helped add more than 1,500 medical staff positions and about 900 new inpatient beds. It also financed new technology and enhanced services at HCA hospitals.
- HCA gave $1 million in a cash donation this year for the Ebola response effort to the CDC Foundation's Disaster Response Fund. Their dollars will go toward protective equipment, infection control tools, food, generators, vehicles and motorcycles, local staff wages and exit screening tools at airports, like thermometers.