NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: HCA), one of the nation’s leading healthcare providers, today announced that the organization and the HCA Healthcare Foundation gave more than $41 million to community organizations in 2021. The funding includes contributions made to organizations focused on addressing disaster relief, education and high priority community needs, as well as matching gifts to support colleagues’ charities of choice.

HCA Healthcare supports communities in multiple ways, including direct contributions from the organization, matching gifts of colleagues, and encouraging colleagues to volunteer their time and talents. The HCA Healthcare Foundation provides leadership, service and financial support to nonprofit organizations working individually and collectively.

“For more than 50 years, HCA Healthcare has been caring for the communities where its colleagues live and work, and 2021 marked significant milestones in expanding the ways we give back,” said Joanne Pulles, vice president of community engagement at HCA Healthcare and president of the HCA Healthcare Foundation. “Whether it’s through volunteering our time, making charitable donations or partnering with other organizations, we are committed to improving more lives in more ways.”

HCA Healthcare and the HCA Healthcare Foundation have a long history of supporting the Middle Tennessee community where HCA Healthcare is headquartered. Last year marked the launch of two initiatives designed to help address important issues in communities around the country. In May 2021, the HCA Healthcare Foundation’s presence was expanded with the launch of its Healthier Tomorrow Fund, an $80 million community impact fund established to support initiatives focused on high-priority community needs and health equity in 25 communities in five states where HCA Healthcare has a presence. Since its launch, $4.5 million in funding has already been allocated to 13 different organizations, including the American Heart Association, Jobs for America’s Graduates and Educate Texas.

“Jobs for America’s Graduates has had convincing success over 40 years in supporting and educating thousands of young people through leadership development, project-based learning and mastering our 37 employability skills competencies,” said Ken Smith, president and chief executive officer of Jobs for America’s Graduates, a recipient of a grant from the Healthier Tomorrow Fund. “The HCA Healthcare Foundation helped create our new healthcare occupation project-based learning module and expanded opportunities for our young people to learn more about the full range of healthcare occupations."

Additionally, in May 2021, HCA Healthcare announced a $10 million commitment over three years to support Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) in communities where HCA Healthcare has a presence. In December, HCA Healthcare donated $1.5 million to Florida A&M University’s School of Allied Health Sciences. This donation and future partnerships are intended to strengthen student pathways from undergraduate to graduate to management careers in healthcare, while also advancing diversity in healthcare and supporting the next generation of healthcare leaders.

Since its inception, the HCA Healthcare Foundation has provided more than $247 million to nonprofit organizations headquartered in and serving residents of seven Middle Tennessee counties. In 2021, the HCA Healthcare Foundation donated more than $5.5 million to 145 nonprofit agencies in Middle Tennessee aimed at providing solutions in the areas of health and wellbeing, primary care or basic needs services, education, and the arts.

Additionally, HCA Healthcare and its colleagues supported communities through the following initiatives in 2021:

• Disaster Recovery Efforts: Last year, HCA Healthcare continued to support its communities affected by natural disasters. For example, when a severe tornado system struck Kentucky, HCA Healthcare stepped up to provide care at TriStar Greenview Regional Hospital and contributed $250,000 in funding to support organizations providing relief services. When floods impacted Middle Tennessee, affecting many HCA Healthcare colleagues and neighbors, HCA Healthcare and the HCA Healthcare Foundationcontributed $250,000 to support relief efforts. When Category 4 Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana in September, HCA Healthcare and its affiliate Tulane Health System donated $225,000 to aid in recovery and relief efforts. Additionally, when winter storms hit Texas in February 2021, leaving thousands without power, HCA Healthcare and its affiliate Texas hospitals contributed $250,000 to support relief efforts by charitable organizations.

• Healthy Food for Healthier Tomorrows Food & Nutrition Drive: HCA Healthcare colleagues across the country took action against food insecurity with a holiday food drive and fundraiser that delivered nearly 370,000 meals to food banks. The effort supported HCA Healthcare’s inaugural Healthy Food for Healthier Tomorrows Food & Nutrition Drive, and included 77,830 meals donated by colleagues, 52,000 meals provided by colleague charitable donations, and 240,000 meals from $60,000 in grants provided by the HCA Healthcare Foundation.

• Volunteerism: In 2021, giving and volunteering continued to evolve in response to the ongoing pandemic. Many nonprofits continued with socially distanced operations and virtual volunteer service opportunities. While giving back and volunteering might have looked a little different, HCA Healthcare colleagues showed up stronger than ever, marking a 20 percent increase over last year in the number of volunteer hours logged.

About HCA Healthcare

Nashville-based HCA Healthcare is one of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare services comprising 182 hospitals and approximately 2,200 ambulatory sites of care, including surgery centers, freestanding ERs, urgent care centers, and physician clinics, in 20 states and the United Kingdom. With its founding in 1968, HCA Healthcare created a new model for hospital care in the United States, using combined resources to strengthen hospitals, deliver patient-focused care and improve the practice of medicine. HCA Healthcare has conducted a number of clinical studies, including one that demonstrated that full-term delivery is healthier than early elective delivery of babies and another that identified a clinical protocol that can reduce bloodstream infections in ICU patients by 44 percent. HCA Healthcare is a learning health system that uses its more than 35 million annual patient encounters to advance science, improve patient care and save lives. Please click here to connect with HCA Healthcare on social media.

About HCA Healthcare Foundation

The mission of the HCA Healthcare Foundation is to promote health and well-being and strive to make a positive impact in all the communities HCA Healthcare serves. We accomplish this mission by providing leadership, service and financial support to effective non-profit organizations working individually and collectively.

All references to “Company,” “HCA” and “HCA Healthcare” as used throughout this document refer to HCA Healthcare, Inc. and its affiliates.

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INVESTOR CONTACT: Frank Morgan 615-344-2688

MEDIA CONTACT: Harlow Sumerford 615-344-1851

Source: HCA Healthcare