HCA Healthcare colleagues earn award for support of Army Reserve member

In the past five years, more than 20,000 veterans have joined the HCA Healthcare family. We are proud to employ passionate, service-driven veterans, active-duty service members, guardsmen, reservists and military spouses.

For 10 years running, HCA Healthcare has been named a Military-Friendly Employer and Military Spouse Friendly Employer.

Recently, HCA Healthcare supervisors were honored by the U.S. Department of Defense for their support of a colleague who is both an Army Reserve member and a laboratory director at affiliate Lake City Medical Center. Read on for a powerful story of HCA Healthcare’s commitment to our nation’s service members…

Serving those who serve 

Like many of us, David Spring’s life journey followed a traditional route: school, career and family along the way. But something was missing, something he had wanted to do his entire adult life. So, when he was 48 years old, Spring walked into an Army Recruiting Station and joined the U.S. Army Reserve, deploying first to Afghanistan.

HCA Healthcare colleague David Spring serves as a reservist and laboratory director at affiliate Lake City Medical Center in Florida.

Today, nearly 10 years later, Spring spends the majority of his time as a laboratory director for HCA Healthcare’s Lake City Medical Center in Florida. But he continues to serve in the Reserve.

In March, Major Spring received word that he would be deploying to Germany for a six-month tour, serving as the Joint Blood Program Director for the United States Africa Command.

With only days to prepare and in the midst of a critical accreditation renewal process with the College of American Pathologists, Spring’s supervisors didn’t hesitate to support him on his deployment.

Supportive managers and supervisors like Brad Mason, director of integrated regional laboratories for HCA Healthcare’s North Florida Division, and Steven Nelson, assistant vice president of operations at affiliate Lake City Medical Center, are critical to maintaining the strength and readiness of the Nation’s Guard and Reserve units.

“Service is one of our core values at HCA Healthcare, whether that entails serving our colleagues, our patients or our local communities. For Spring, the calling is even higher – our country, and for that, we salute him and will always support him,” said Nelson.

Spring calls Mason and Nelson true patriots for taking on six months of his work responsibilities while he was away. “For a service member, this means everything. I could deploy with a clear mind and focus on my service and my family.”

In recognition of their support back home, Spring nominated his supervisors for the Department of Defense Patriot Award, which recognizes individual supervisors who support reservists during their times of deployment. In October, the U.S. Army officially presented the awards to Mason and Nelson.

For Mason, supporting Spring during his deployment was a personal reminder of the value of service. His father also served his country as a National Guardsman, but when he returned from deployment in Iraq, he came back to an eliminated position with his previous employer.  “Supporting David was the right thing to do, and, in a way, it allowed me to pay tribute to my father, as well.”

For 10 years running, HCA Healthcare has been named a Military-Friendly Employer and Military Spouse Friendly Employer. To all of our military family members, thank you for your service, sacrifice and all the ways you continue to serve colleagues, clinicians and ultimately our patients.