HCA Healthcare’s commitment to “Hiring 100,000 Military Spouses”

KEY FACTS:

• U.S. unemployment rate is the lowest the country has seen in years, 3.7%
• Yet, military spouses remain unemployed at a rate of 16%
• The Hiring 100,000 Military Spouses campaign is a call to action to provide real solutions for military spouses seeking meaningful 21^st-century career opportunities
• HCA Healthcare, a founding campaign partner, has hired nearly 1,000 military spouses and with goals to hire 1,100 annually in 2020 and 2021

The United States is experiencing an unemployment rate of 3.7%, which is the lowest the country has seen in nearly fifty years. Meanwhile, a valued sector of our society is still unemployed at a rate of 16%, more than four times the rate of their equivalents.

This under-tapped group of talent….military spouses.

At HCA Healthcare, we recognize that military spouses are among the best hires we can make. That’s why we’re proud to partner with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring 100,000 Military Spouses campaign as a founding coalition member.

The campaign is a three-year call to action campaign for U.S. companies and businesses, of all sizes, to make a collective commitment to hire 100,000 military spouses. So far, 132 companies have committed to this important initiative, pledging to collectively hire over 25,000 military spouses.

Through the Hiring 100,000 Military Spouses campaign, HCA Healthcare has:

• Brought on nearly 1,000 military spouses in the past year
• Committed to hiring 1,100 more military spouses annually in both 2020 and 2021

The goal is ambitious, but a worthwhile one.

“HCA Healthcare is privileged to be one of the first companies leading the Hiring 100,000 Military Spouses campaign,” said Avery King, HCA Healthcare’s lead military veteran recruiter. “We are thankful to military veterans and spouses that have chosen to serve our country, and now serve our patients in communities across the nation.”

“We have found in most cases military spouses are dedicated, loyal, and assimilate into a company quickly,” adds King. “We have found that they excel in most positions that they are hired into at HCA Healthcare.”

Military spouses are comprised of a very diverse subset of talent, varying in socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, geography and education.

• 88% have some post-high school education
• 34% have a college degree
• 15% have a post doctorate degree
• 9% of active duty military spouses are 25 and younger
• 5% are 41 years or older
• 92% are female

The average military family moves every two to three years

In the past five years nurse and military spouse Kamiko Ritchey has lived in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri and now Tennessee.

Ritchey is married to a Combat Engineer Officer and Captain in the United States Army. She knows that a military spouse’s “normal” involves uprooting your family every few years, struggling to find a new job, new friends and new schools for your children.

“Although we make many sacrifices as military spouses and military families, it’s still great to know that we can make a real difference in each job, community, unit, and company – and be involved in something bigger than ourselves,” said Ritchey, who currently serves as an oncology nurse at affiliate TriStar Summit Medical Center.

Ritchey has observed that military spouses often experience push back from future employers during an interview process. Military spouses, on average, move every two to three years and are consequently often asked questions like, “Why have you moved around so much?”, “When will you move again?”

Repeated relocation is the biggest obstacle for military spouses trying to obtain meaningful employment.

After four moves in five years, military spouse finds home with HCA Healthcare

Ritchey said that during her hiring process at HCA Healthcare, “It never came up as being an issue and HCA Healthcare has welcomed me with open arms. I felt nothing but support from everyone.”

Thanks to the Hiring 100,000 Military Spouses campaign, military spouses are encouraged to self-identify during job interviews with committed companies.

In an interview for Hiring our Heroes, King explains that the campaign “gives military spouses the opportunity to be truthful regarding their background and abilities without having to hide the fact that they are military spouses.”

Landing her “dream job”

Ritchey connected with HCA Healthcare during clinical rotations in nursing school. She has worked at three different HCA Healthcare facilities in the TriStar Division before landing her “dream job” at Tristar Summit Medical Center.

“HCA Healthcare is an amazing company to work for because of the potential ability to transfer to other facilities wherever you go,” says Ritchey. “There are so many facilities worldwide and they have programs to connect you with other jobs wherever you get orders next.”

“HCA Healthcare has high standards for the people they hire and it truly shows because of the level of compassion shown to me,” said Ritchey. “As a military spouse, I am especially thankful to be a part of the HCA Healthcare family. HCA Healthcare at large, and my coworkers make a difference in my life and I thank you all for supporting me along this crazy journey.”

We’re proud to hire thousands of veterans and military spouses, like Ritchey, each year. If you are a veteran or military spouse interested in healthcare, apply for one of our open positions here.

HCA Healthcare has been nationally recognized as a military friendly and military spouse friendly employer for nine consecutive years by VIQTORY (formerly known as Victory Media), proudly hiring more than 23,000 military veterans and 7,500 military spouses since 2012.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes (HOH) initiative launched in March 2011 as a nationwide effort to connect veterans, service members, and military spouses with meaningful employment opportunities with a goal to create a movement across America in hundreds of communities where veterans and military families return every day.