Community
partnerships
Our community partnerships help improve health outcomes
In our communities, we partner with nonprofits and community leaders and invest in solutions to help change our communities for the better.
March of Dimes
More than 200,000 babies are delivered annually across our network of hospitals, and we use data from these births to look for insights that will help improve prenatal, natal and postnatal care.
Our partnership with March of Dimes focuses on improving maternal mortality and morbidity outcomes through postpartum discharge education and by lowering hospital cesarean rates among low-risk, first-time mothers, clinically referenced as NTSV (Nulliparous, Term, Singleton, Vertex) pregnancies.
HCA Florida Kendall Hospital colleagues and families joined the 2024 Miami-Dade March of Dimes Walk, with a team of 17 raising about $1,000. Pictured are Adrian Valdes, an 11-year-old former NICU baby, and his mother Gabriela Valdes, one of the NICU’s founding nurses. Adrian reunited with his NICU nurse, Cynthia Brito, illustrating their lasting bonds formed through care and love.
In 2024, we supported March of Dimes’ “It Starts With Mom” education and engagement platform, which provides families with educational information and resources during their pregnancy journey. March of Dimes launched the new “Low Dose, Big Benefits” campaign to decrease the adverse effects of pre-eclampsia and preterm birth by taking low dose aspirin. Preeclampsia affects 1 in 25 pregnancies in the US, with potential impacts on mom and baby during pregnancy, labor and delivery across both of their lifetimes. We supported this work by sharing educational content on social media and providing our clinical subject matter experts on March of Dimes live webinars and panel discussions.
- In December 2024, March of Dimes held a live webinar on It Starts With Mom: Postpartum and the Holidays. This important conversation was moderated by Ashley LeMieux of “Healing Her” podcast with Dr. Cassidy Freitas, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Maria Zeitz, LPC, MS, RN, from HCA Healthcare affiliate Methodist Healthcare.
- In 2022, we scaled our support as a leading national partner with other organizations like Publix and Gerber for March for Babies, mobilizing more than 80 communities across the nation for healthy moms and strong babies.
For over a decade, HCA Healthcare colleagues have participated in volunteerism and fundraising efforts for several of our local March for Babies campaigns, where hospital colleagues come together as a team to raise funds and walk together alongside their community to support our mission.
American Heart
Association
HCA Healthcare and the American Heart Association (AHA) have a longstanding history of supporting one another. It dates back to the 1980s with HCA Healthcare founder, Dr. Thomas Frist Sr. and continues today with Dr. Steven Manoukian, SVP at HCA Healthcare, who was selected as the American Heart Association’s Healthcare Volunteer of the Year. In 2022, the AHA launched the Getting to the Heart of Stroke™ initiative, developed in conjunction with and supported by HCA Healthcare and the HCA Healthcare Foundation. This multi-faceted impact investment, focused on both the hospital and larger community, is the most significant investment from the Foundation’s Healthier Tomorrow Fund to date.
Getting to the Heart of Stroke™ is focused on preventing, treating and beating stroke by offering nationwide education on stroke risk and empowering communities to improve health outcomes. This initiative was initially launched at 10 HCA Healthcare facilities and activated in 15 markets across the country.
Since 2022, this initiative has engaged more than 628 million consumers nationwide, with 14 million alone on social media in 2024. By partnering with 109 community organizations across 285 locations, AHA has expanded access to evidence-based health interventions like blood pressure monitoring and nutrition security screenings and expanded food storage for high-risk populations. Also, in 2024, more than 4,300 HCA Healthcare colleagues raised over $900,000 for Heart Walks, supporting 478 teams nationwide.
Getting to the Heart of Stroke™ key accomplishments:
- Quality improvement: Improved identification of the cause of stroke by up to 63% through care team collaboration, best practice-sharing and increased utilization of evidence-based diagnostic testing in 2024.
- Professional education: Through 14 recorded webinars and podcasts, Getting to the Heart of Stroke™ has engaged more than 5,500 participants and 26,000 podcast listeners, equipping healthcare providers with critical knowledge to improve outcomes and reduce disparities in stroke care.
- Consumer education: By amplifying eight AHA-led marketing campaigns and positioning five of our providers as national thought-leaders, Getting to the Heart of Stroke™ raised awareness about stroke warning signs to more than 620 million consumers, empowering individuals to take control of their heart health.
- Community impact: With 109 community partnerships established since the initiative began, we are working to address critical gaps in care through interventions aimed at improving blood pressure, enhancing nutrition security and advancing maternal health.
Musicians On Call (MOC)
HCA Healthcare and the HCA Healthcare Foundation are proud to support Musicians on Call (MOC), a nonprofit that brings live and virtual music to the bedsides of patients, families and caregivers. In 2022, HCA Healthcare partnered with MOC to expand live music programs nationwide, donating $1 million to create and launch MOC’s online platform and increase access to both in-person and virtual music experiences. Over the past two years, HCA Healthcare and MOC have delivered the healing power of music to over 225,000 people, making live music in healthcare facilities truly “on call.” Additionally, MOC recorded over 3,000 volunteer shifts and had over 1,000 active volunteers that consistently utilize the platform.
Lain Gray helped kicked off our collaboration with Musicians On Call in the Houston area with a performance for patients at the Women’s Hospital of Texas.
“Music is one of the most beautiful ways for people to connect from totally different backgrounds and circumstances. Working on an oncology unit can be tough for caregivers, but nothing compared to the tough situations our patients must face each day. I’ve witnessed Musicians on Call make an incredible difference in the lives of our patients. I’ve witnessed patients who don’t usually talk, share their experience with their care team and relatives for days after the Musicians on Call visit takes place.”
Mary Kate Simerly, BSN, RN
Medical/Surgical Oncology Manager at Sarah Cannon Cancer Network at TriStar Centennial
“The pediatric oncology patients at TriStar Centennial Children’s Hospital face life’s biggest challenge: cancer. With the help of Musicians on Call and their visits to our hospital, our patients are able to feel joy and healing through the power of music. This uniquely special partnership is what drives home our mission, that above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life.”
Sydnie Epstein, MS, CCLS
Certified Child Life Specialist at TriStar Centennial Children’s Hospital
EVERFI
EVERFI is an international technology company driving social change through education. Together, we collaborate with local schools to provide students with education about mental health and wellness. Since our partnership began in 2020, EVERFI and HCA Healthcare’s Understanding Mental Wellness online course has reached more than 232,000 students and approximately 3,100 teachers – with 97% reporting that the course enhanced their curriculum – at more than 1,600 schools across all 15 of HCA Healthcare’s U.S. divisions.
In 2024, students reported a 34% improvement in managing their mental wellness after completing the course. 77% of students had a better understanding of their mental health, and 83% felt confident they can maintain their mental health.
Holly Simmons, nurse educator, Capital Division, with her daughters Zari (Left) and Zurielle (Middle) at a Girl Scouts celebration.
Prioritizing mental wellness
Girl Scouts of the USA
HCA Healthcare is privileged to collaborate on mental wellness with a number of organizations including the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA), the largest girl-led organization in the world. Since 2023, we have worked together to increase awareness and education about the importance of mental health in our communities through the GSUSA Mental Wellness Patch Program. We developed this program in partnership with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the GSUSA Program Advisory Committee and HCA Healthcare behavioral health experts.
More than 20,000 patches have been awarded since the July 2023 launch, making it the most highly-awarded patch program in the organization’s history. Patches have been earned at all levels: Juniors, Cadets, and Seniors.
Holly Simmons, a nurse educator at HCA Healthcare’s Capital Division, knows how important the GSUSA Mental Wellness Patch Program is for girls – like her own daughters – at this formative age. “The well-being of a girl is critical to their development. As a Girl Scout volunteer, mom and a registered nurse – I always look forward to helping girls develop socially, emotionally and physically with each provided opportunity.”
In 2024 divisions continued to find creative concepts to deepen local relationships, including hosting Operation H.E.R: Strong Minds, Strong Girls Mental Health Summit in the Capital Division with over 400 girls and their parents. In the North Texas division, the CEO of Medical City Green Oaks Hospital hosted a virtual education session on anxiety/panic attacks and social media management for close to 50 troop leaders.
“It was the perfect time as students just completed their Standards of Learning testing as well as our seniors gearing up for senior exams.”
Teacher at Unity Reed High School
“Programs like this are so important because if my mind is not working, I can’t work.”
Student at Unity Reed High School
Creating pathways for future healthcare leaders to serve in their community
As a healthcare organization, we are dedicated to expanding educational pathways by creating opportunities for high school and college students to get exposure to careers in healthcare.
Florida A&M University (FAMU) students perform at “FAMUly Day on the Hill” event in Tallahassee Florida.
HCA Healthcare’s investment in high school students
Through the Healthier Tomorrow Fund, the HCA Healthcare Foundation awarded a three-year, $1 million grant to the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations in 2024 to fund the Career Pathways to a Healthier Florida program. The program aims to help create and expand healthcare career pathways for underserved high school students across the state of Florida.
In addition, through the HCA Healthcare Foundation and its Healthier Tomorrow Fund, we continued supporting Educate Texas, an initiative of Communities Foundation of Texas, through the $1.35 million three-year grant, aimed at increasing student access to programs that enable healthcare careers. This grant involved high schools in Texas that offer Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) healthcare career tracks. As of Dec. 31, 2024, Educate Texas worked with local schools to establish 104 healthcare pathways at P-TECH campuses across Texas, enrolling nearly 10,000 students as part of this grant.
HCA Healthcare’s investment in colleges and universities
As of September 2024, HCA Healthcare has committed $10 million to 11 partnerships with colleges and universities with the goal of creating opportunities for future healthcare leaders to learn and serve in their communities. As a part of this commitment, scholarships have been awarded to more than 150 student scholars. These efforts are intended to build a stronger health system with a higher quality of care for our patients.
In 2024,
HCA Healthcare, through its affiliate TriStar Health, announced a $600,000 gift to Meharry Medical College. This investment supports scholarships and paid internships for all graduate students in Meharry’s School of Applied Computational Sciences (SACS). HCA Healthcare and TriStar Health have a longstanding relationship with Meharry Medical College. TriStar Health hosts Meharry medical students during their clerkships, and many Meharry graduates have gone on to practice medicine at TriStar Health hospital. In addition, HCA Healthcare leadership has served on Meharry’s Board of Trustees.
HCA Healthcare’s East Florida Division announced a $500,000 gift to Nova Southeastern University (NSU) to support the establishment of a clinical simulation lab for their new nurse anesthesiology program. The gift will help NSU equip their Palm Beach Gardens and Fort Myers campuses with facilities and faculty to train the next generation of nurse anesthetists.
HCA Healthcare affiliate Methodist Healthcare announced that HCA Healthcare will gift $200,000 to St. Mary’s University’s Greehey School of Business to support scholarships, fellowships, and training for faculty in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program.
HCA Healthcare’s South Atlantic Division announced a $650,000 gift to Savannah State University (SSU) to support a paid internship program for all students pursuing a master’s degree in social work. This investment will provide students with valuable hands-on experience at Memorial Health University Medical Center, helping them gain the necessary clinical hours and prepare for successful careers in social work.
HCA Healthcare has a history of partnering with organizations to help develop future healthcare leaders.
A closer look at one
of our partnerships
Our partnership with Tennessee State University (TSU) supports all students enrolled in the Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr. Institute and the Department of Computer Science within the College of Engineering.
Above: Dr. Monique Butler, President, Graduate Medical Education
In May 2024, our scholarship to support students majoring in computer science at TSU was renamed to the Marty Paslick Endowed Scholarship in Computer Science, to honor the profound impact of HCA Healthcare former chief information officer, Marty Paslick. Through this scholarship, students are given shadowing opportunities, mentors, seminars, leadership sessions, guest speakers and career guidance. In addition to the support the scholarships provide, HCA Healthcare also offers dedicated internship opportunities in the ITG Pathways, Technical Resident and part-time internship programs annually to TSU students. Currently, HCA Healthcare is supporting six computer science students with scholarships.
In September 2024, HCA Healthcare met with over 1,000 students at TSU’s “Secure Your Future” career fair. Students had the opportunity to meet with recruiters from HCA Healthcare and talk about open positions at the organization. In addition, our colleagues met with students after the event to review resumes and offer feedback at TSU’s Career Center.
In October 2024, Dr. Monique Butler, President, Graduate Medical Education, served as the keynote speaker at the Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr. Institute White Coat Ceremony for first-year students, including six HCA Healthcare-supported scholars, which symbolizes the beginning of their journey to become physicians. In total, we are supporting 20 students from this program.