Investing
in our colleagues
Investing in our colleagues
HCA Healthcare’s greatest strength is our people. As we look to the future, HCA Healthcare will continue to foster a culture where colleagues thrive, which we believe ultimately leads to better care for our patients.
Leveraging education assistance, professional development programs to support meaningful careers
HCA Healthcare supports the educational goals of our colleagues to help team members build a career that they are proud of and that makes a difference.
Above: Michael Reed, Maintenance Engineer, Ogden Regional Medical Center
Above (left to right): Elenita Aragon, Radiology Supervisor; Elizabeth Nonjero, CT Technologist; Annette Watt, Director, Radiology; HCA Florida Aventura Hospital
Patricia Frist Memorial Scholarship
The HCA Healthcare Foundation is proud to support the educational goals of our colleagues’ families through the Patricia Frist Memorial Scholarship. Named in memory of the beloved philanthropist and devoted wife of Dr. Thomas Frist Jr., this scholarship program continues Patricia Frist’s legacy of investing in the next generation. This merit-based scholarship awards up to $6,000 per year to empower eligible dependents of HCA Healthcare colleagues in their pursuit of higher education, allowing them to work toward their academic goals and unlock their full potential. In 2024, scholarships were awarded to 689 deserving recipients across all divisions, and children of HCA Healthcare nurses continued to be the primary recipients of this funding.
$13 million+
Patricia Frist Memorial Scholarships awarded since 2019
“This scholarship also made me feel more grateful for my stepfather, who has been with HCA Healthcare as a nurse for over 10 years. Thanks to him I have access to such an amazing scholarship opportunity. He has worked hard to move up the ranks in his hospital, and I hope to repay his efforts when I become successful in my nursing career. HCA Healthcare has shown to care for its patients, employees, and families, and I look forward to being a part of this company as a nurse.”
Ileanys Campos Sanchez
“The pressure on me and my family will change as a result of receiving this scholarship in order to help me pursue further education and build a career of opportunities. I wanted to say thank you for this scholarship and opportunity, and I hope to make it worth every penny learning as much as I can with my time at Texas A&M.”
Ziyaan Momin
“This helps so much as I won’t have as much worry or stress with my college funds, so I am very ecstatic and grateful to be receiving such an award. With this award, I am able to give more of my focus towards my studies in Music Education at UNCG, rather than whether or not I’ll be able to pay off my school bills. I will continue to work very hard in order to pursue my goal of becoming an educator of music. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the people behind this scholarship! I would also like to thank my mother. She has worked very hard to provide for me and my sister while working in Mission Health in Asheville, NC for almost a year now.”
Aiden Beard
Workforce development
HCA Healthcare’s workforce development programs fill critical needs by strengthening and expanding our talent pipelines and creating opportunities for career growth and professional development. Most importantly, they improve the lives of our colleagues as well as those in the communities we serve through training and upskilling, which opens doors to higher-level, higher-paying roles.
“There are so many different avenues that our imaging techs can take within the organization and getting them started on this path with the resources to grow and develop at HCA Healthcare is really exciting.”
Dana Shearer
Director of Diagnostic Imaging at HCA Florida Brandon Hospital
Transforming colleague and patient lives
Dana Shearer, director of Diagnostic Imaging at HCA Florida Brandon Hospital, is passionate about career development in imaging. As a registered technologist in radiography with a Master of Science in radiologic sciences, Dana understands how powerful providing answers to patients through imaging can be. Her department recently switched from its homegrown career development program to one of HCA Healthcare’s workforce development programs specializing in helping radiologic technologists (rad techs) become computed tomography technologists (CT techs or imaging techs). The reason for the switch? The need for a scalable program that could increase capacity and quality and was supported by a great academic partner.
“We had successfully trained nuclear medicine technologists and radiology technologists into CT technologists. However, we were interested in the 10-week timeline with HCA Healthcare’s program. And we’ve gotten great results. Our participants were engaged in pre-recorded and live sessions and knew what to study. They felt equipped and knew exactly what to focus on each week with our HCA Healthcare preceptors.”
Dana knows that this program will benefit patients and colleagues alike. For patients, these programs help create experts who can help them when they need it most.
“We’re opening a new free-standing ER in North Lakeland. Every time we open free-standing ERs, we need additional CT X-ray staff. We currently have five free-standing ERs with our main hospital. There is so much growth coming. HCA Healthcare is all about the community and the outreach to the community, and that’s why we’re so focused on free-standing ERs. Allowing that to be within a community and close to home, patients can go there and get fast support. Patients are treated, diagnosed and sent home without having to go to a full-on hospital.”
And for colleagues, these programs are a way to upskill and invest in their future.
“For our imaging techs, this has been an opportunity for them to develop and grow in their fields. There are so many different avenues that our imaging techs can take within the organization and getting them started on this path with the resources to grow and develop at HCA Healthcare is really exciting.”
Forging career pathways for future nurses
Lexi White saw the posting that brought her to HCA Healthcare on Indeed. “I wasn’t sure what could be accomplished in two months. I was interested in going to school to be a medical assistant, but I wanted to know more about the post I saw.”
The post that Lexi saw was for a phlebotomy apprenticeship program based at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT), offered in partnership with HCA Healthcare by way of a workforce development grant. In collaboration with our TriStar facilities, this program combines classroom learning and clinical rotations within our hospitals, and is designed to equip apprentices with the skills and knowledge necessary to deliver exceptional patient care.
Upon successfully completing her program in eight weeks, Lexi began working at TriStar’s Centennial Medical Center in the labor and delivery department. Her time working with mothers and infants as well as learning from doctors and nurses around her inspired her to take the next step in her career at HCA Healthcare. She will start studying in early 2025 at Galen College of Nursing to earn her Bachelor of Science in nursing during the week while still working at Centennial on the weekends.
Lexi, who has always loved being around children, plans on specializing in pediatric oncology. When asked what advice she would give someone interested in healthcare but unsure where to start, Lexi says to take the journey one step at a time.
“Take your time. There is never a rush to be in school. I didn’t expect to be in the position I was in, but I decided to trust the process. I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished, and I’m excited for what’s next. I want to travel within HCA Healthcare and see how far I can go.”