Partnering with physicians
When physicians Dr. Thomas Frist Sr. and Dr. Thomas Frist Jr. co-founded HCA Healthcare alongside businessman Jack Massey, they shared a vision that still resonates with physicians today: to elevate patient care across the industry and create healthier tomorrows for all. We help HCA Healthcare’s more than 44,000 active and affiliated physicians deliver high-quality care for patients by prioritizing physician input, clinical capabilities, innovation and workforce development.
Physician input and engagement
Physician voice is a top priority at HCA Healthcare. One of the many ways we partner with physicians to help them deliver high quality care is by conducting an annual Physician Engagement survey. The survey allows our hospitals to gain insight into operational strengths and opportunities, segmented by departments and services.
In 2025, more than 14,000 physicians completed the survey. HCA Healthcare’s physician engagement rating increased from 2024 by three points to 84%, 13 points above the survey benchmark for physicians.
Physician feedback informs our efforts to drive meaningful change across the enterprise. For example, we began using surgeon feedback to inform the OR Optimization Subcommittee in 2024. This corporate-level subcommittee focuses on driving improvement in efficiency, scheduling, equipment and staffing. A dedicated workgroup within that subcommittee, comprised of surgical services leaders and Division CMO
representation, collaborates to make recommendations for improvement and to promote action and communication, all based on physician voice.
As a result, feedback from surgeons in the 2025 survey rose by seven points in both equipment availability and turnover time, making these the two most improved areas year over year.
Before launching the 2025 survey, the Physician and Provider Relations team, in partnership with the Vital Voices team, transitioned the Physician Engagement survey to a more advanced platform. This strategic move streamlines survey language and action planning strategies, enabling greater consistency across engagement efforts. By leveraging a unified platform, facilities and leaders are further empowered to elevate physician voice, enhance responsiveness and drive operational excellence.
Enhancing leadership capabilities
At HCA Healthcare, we are committed to strengthening the leadership capabilities of our physician leaders, particularly our CMOs, who play a vital role in shaping clinical strategy and driving operational excellence across our facilities.
Efforts in recent years have focused on expanding the visibility and strategic involvement of CMOs across the enterprise. By creating opportunities for CMOs to contribute to system-wide initiatives and
participate in key decision-making forums, we are reinforcing their role as essential partners in driving clinical excellence.
This approach reflects our commitment to elevating physician leadership and ensuring that clinical perspectives are integrated into organizational strategy. It supports the development of a connected network of physician leaders who are equipped to lead change and improve outcomes across the care continuum.
Hiram Gandara, DO, Resident Physician; HCA Florida Largo Hospital
Physician Wellness Research Lab
HCA Healthcare’s Physician Wellness Research Lab (PWR Lab) continues to lead the way in advancing workplace well-being on a national level. In collaboration with Claremont Graduate University and internationally recognized workplace psychologists — including Dr. Richard Ryan, co-founder of Self-Determination Theory and one of the most cited scientists globally — the lab has hosted six national workshops focused on optimizing work and learning environments. These sessions emphasize systemic improvements over individual resilience, drawing participation from more than 260 participants, including program directors, associate directors, administrators and core faculty.
The workshops have shown measurable impact, improving perceptions of program director support and fostering stronger endorsement of the work environment. These efforts are also linked to improved retention among trainees. For the second year in a row, HCA Healthcare
GME programs outperformed the national average on all 12 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) well-being metrics.
The lab’s work has gained national recognition, with presentations at leading forums such as the ACGME national conference, the American Conference on Physician Health and webinars hosted by the AMA Insights Network. In 2026, HCA Healthcare will deliver a plenary talk at the ACGME conference, expected to draw over 1,000 attendees.
Beyond research and education, the lab has expanded support systems for residents and fellows, including access to the Med Commons Circle — a resource for their families and significant others. A quarterly wellness newsletter authored by workplace psychologists now reaches GME leaders across the enterprise, offering insights and strategies to sustain well-being.
GME program
Looking forward to the next decade
For over a decade, HCA Healthcare has worked strategically to elevate and promote the growth of graduate medical education (GME) programs nationwide, establishing new programs in key markets and investing in tomorrow’s physicians. What began as numerous independently run programs within our facilities, became a collaborative national network committed to the development of our physicians through education. Today, HCA Healthcare is the largest sponsor of GME in the country, with over 5,758 residents and fellows at 85 teaching hospitals in 16 states.
Graduate Medical Education Next-Generation Impact Plan
In 2025, our dedicated leaders evaluated and reimagined the future of GME at HCA Healthcare, establishing the Graduate Medical Education Next-Generation Impact Plan which is designed to strengthen the ties between physician education and our enterprise strategic priorities. The plan lays the framework for growth in five main areas: focus on people, strategic growth, clinical excellence, hospital integration and targeted retention.
- Focus on our people
At HCA Healthcare, people are at the core of who we are and what we do. The care our residents and fellows provide, supported by the expertise and dedication of our GME staff, is critical to the capability and capacity of our network. With guidance, resources and recognition for our residents and fellows, we aim to create new opportunities for growth and visibility, and foster engagement among our programs.
GME program
by the numbers for academic year 2024-2025
365
GME
programs
85
hospitals with GME programs
16
states
5,389
residents
Match Day 2025
Each year eager medical school students who participate in the National Resident Matching Program learn where they will complete their residency on what is known as “Match Day.” In the spring of 2025, HCA Healthcare’s GME program had 2,120 residents match, a 22% increase from 2024.
- Strategic growth
Following the growth our GME programs have experienced in recent years, our plan for continued growth is rooted in strategy and guided by community needs. We plan to diversify our portfolio of programs, emphasize the development of specialized fellowship programs and foster collaborations with academic partners.
In 2024-2025, we added 27 new programs in surgery, cardiovascular, gastroenterology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and surgical critical care. - Clinical excellence
We are committed to strengthening clinical quality for our patients. Our strategy focuses on clear and accurate data reporting to visualize physician performance and program health and identify actionable steps to improve areas of opportunity. Our residents and program directors can access their own clinical quality data through our GME Resident Quality Metrics and Benchmarks Dashboards specifically developed by our data science team to provide our GME programs with valuable quality insights. - Hospital integration
Our GME programs are an integral part of our network of care, and we are increasingly integrating GME into the hospital structure and furthering collaboration with other service lines and departments. In 2025, we realigned and standardized roles within GME across the network to improve recognition and visibility of our colleagues and their work. The changes should promote greater alignment between GME and our organization’s strategic goals. - Targeted retention
Our goal is to foster a sense of belonging and commitment to HCA Healthcare’s mission that lasts long after our residents and fellows become board-certified physicians. We recruit bright, compassionate students to our programs, and hope to retain them as confident, caring healthcare providers who invest back into the communities they serve.