Power of Partnership: HCA Healthcare and the March of Dimes

Nearly half a million babies (10-15%) born in the United States require care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). And when your baby is in the NICU, each minute can feel like a lifetime.

It’s easy for parents to feel helpless, but at HCA Healthcare, we partner with our NICU families to aid in their transition home and give them a future with our tiniest patients.

In our third year as a national partner with March of Dimes, an organization that leads the fight for the health of all moms and babies, HCA Healthcare has pledged to contribute $3 million over three years through donations and fundraising events like March for Babies. HCA Healthcare and affiliate hospitals have already contributed more than $2.1 million in two years.

“We’re proud to partner with the March of Dimes in research, funding, and education,” said Amy Casseri, vice president of women’s and children’s services at HCA Healthcare. “Through our partnership and financial gifts, we have contributed towards advocacy priorities and advance research that has the potential to improve the lives of moms, babies, and families across the country.”

According to the March of Dimes, 1 in 10 babies in the U.S. is born premature and for the third year in a row this rate continues to rise. Those babies who survive an early birth often face increased risk of complications that require around-the-clock care in the NICU.

With more than 90 NICUs across the HCA Healthcare network, our caregivers have provided a gateway to life for thousands of infants born prematurely and have helped support families through education, information and comfort when needed most.

HCA Houston Healthcare affiliate The Woman’s Hospital of Texas will soon become the nation’s first hospital with two full-time March of Dimes NICU Family Support Program coordinators. The expansion of March of Dimes staff at The Woman’s Hospital of Texas, a Level IV Advanced NICU – the highest level of acute care for critically ill infants – will provide additional support and resources to one of the nation’s largest NICUs and its families.

“Having someone by our side means the world to us, especially when it comes to all the questions we have about our NICU journey,” said Siddhartha Rodriquez, who gave birth to her daughter Amanda at 24 weeks and three days at The Woman’s Hospital of Texas. “We’re grateful for the support we are receiving from the March of Dimes program.”

More than 2,500 premature babies are born every year at The Woman’s Hospital of Texas, which will support the Houston, Texas March for Babies walk on Sunday, April 28.

This year, the HCA Healthcare family is sponsoring 38 March for Babies walks, with more than 70 affiliate hospitals participating across the country. These walks help reunite NICU graduates with their care teams and support fundraising efforts for the March of Dimes.

Help celebrate our national partnership with the March of Dimes by raising funds for research and supporting strong moms and healthy babies through March for Babies here.  And, join us at the March for Babies walk in support of the TriStar Division in our hometown of Nashville this Saturday, April 13 at Nissan Stadium.

HCA Healthcare, a nationally recognized leader in perinatal safety, is privileged to deliver nearly 224,000 babies a year, more than any healthcare provider in the country. As a national partner of the March of Dimes, our work together has helped build healthier tomorrows for mothers and babies across the country.