HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: HCA), one of the nation’s leading healthcare providers, today announced that it will contribute $1 million through community organizations to aid in Hurricane Helene relief efforts in North Carolina.
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On September 29, 2024, more than 100 HCA Healthcare nurses traveled to western North Carolina to provide support and relief for caregivers at Mission Hospital. (Photo: Business Wire)
On Thursday, September 26, Hurricane Helene made landfall as a powerful category 4 hurricane, leaving more than four million people without power and causing major damage as it traveled throughout the Southeast. When the storm hit Asheville, North Carolina, it brought heavy rainfall, strong winds and widespread flooding that resulted in loss of life, significant damage and power outages. HCA Healthcare operates seven hospitals and has thousands of colleagues in western North Carolina, many of whom were affected by the storm and its aftermath.
In response, HCA Healthcare will contribute $250,000 to the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County to help with immediate natural disaster response and long-term support for flood victims. It will also give $250,000 to the American Red Cross of North Carolina to help support its shelter locations. An additional $500,000 will be donated to other community partners that provide direct support for hurricane-related issues.
“Caring for those in their time of need is our greatest calling at HCA Healthcare, and I am deeply moved by the resilience and compassion of our colleagues,” said Sam Hazen, chief executive officer of HCA Healthcare. “It is our honor to support organizations like United Way and the American Red Cross to help our western North Carolina communities through Hurricane Helene and its aftermath.”
Leading up to the storm, HCA Healthcare activated its Nashville-based Enterprise Emergency Operations Center (EEOC), comprised of nearly 200 multi-disciplinary leaders, including risk management, clinical experts, supply chain, patient logistics, air and ground transport and community liaison representatives. The EEOC is working alongside hospital leadership to distribute key resources to care teams in the Southeastern U.S. before, during and after the catastrophic storm. HCA Healthcare colleagues from across the country, including more than 100 nurses, as well as physicians and HCA Healthcare’s incident support team, are continuing to arrive to provide support to local caregivers.
HCA Healthcare is also a longstanding national partner of the American Red Cross, through its Annual Disaster Partner Giving Program (ADGP), which includes an annual contribution of $500,000, that helps the organization have the infrastructure, resources and technology in place to provide care and comfort to those in need. Over the last eight years, HCA Healthcare has provided nearly $8 million in financial support to the Red Cross for disaster relief efforts, including Hurricane Harvey in 2017, Hurricanes Florence and Michael in 2018, and the Texas winter storms and Kentucky tornadoes in 2021. The company also supported relief efforts following Hurricane Ian and historic flooding in Kentucky in 2022 and tornado relief efforts in Middle Tennessee in 2023.
“Though the level of destruction is immense, I am proud of the dedication of our colleagues, who have continued to support our patients, our community and one another,” said Greg Lowe, president and CEO of Mission Health. “We remain dedicated to helping our colleagues through this time, just as they have selflessly served their community and supported patients without hesitation.”
HCA Healthcare established the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund to support colleagues in disasters such as this. The HCA Healthcare Hope Fund is an employee-run, employee-supported 501(c)(3) charity that provides financial aid and resources to employees after an extended illness, injury, disaster or other special situation. Since its inception, the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund has given more than $110 million in grants helping more than 56,000 colleagues and families.
About HCA Healthcare
Nashville-based HCA Healthcare is one of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare services comprising 188 hospitals and approximately 2,400 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%. HCA Healthcare is a learning health system that uses its more than 43 million annual patient encounters to advance science, improve patient care and save lives.
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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