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HCA Healthcare to donate up to $1.5 million towards Hurricane Ian disaster relief efforts in Florida

HCA Healthcare to donate up to $1.5 million towards Hurricane Ian disaster relief efforts in Florida
In an aerial view, damaged buildings are seen as Hurricane Ian passed through the area on September 29, 2022, in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. The hurricane brought high winds, storm surge and rain to the area causing severe damage. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Today, HCA Healthcare announced that it will contribute up to $1.5 million through community organizations and colleague matching to aid in Hurricane Ian relief efforts in Florida.

HCA Healthcare will contribute to the following organizations:

On Wednesday, September 28, Hurricane Ian made landfall on the west coast of Florida as a powerful category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour. The devastation left more than 2 million people without power and caused extensive damage to communities in its path. HCA Healthcare operates 49 hospital campuses and has approximately 77,000 colleagues in the state of Florida, many of whom were affected by the hurricane.

“I am incredibly proud of how our Florida colleagues have responded in the wake of Hurricane Ian,” said Sam Hazen, chief executive officer of HCA Healthcare. “Their resilience and compassion, even when faced with devastation as great as this, is a testament to their unwavering commitment to the care and improvement of human life.”

Two HCA Florida Healthcare colleagues in blue scrubs looking at paperwork
The unpredictable nature of Hurricane Ian’s path right up to landfall meant that our hospitals and care teams remained on high alert the past several days, ready to take steps to ensure patient safety. Their determination meant not just that outstanding patient care was delivered during extraordinary circumstances, but that HCA Healthcare honored our ongoing responsibility to the communities that we serve.

HCA Healthcare and its colleagues have a demonstrated track record of supporting communities before, during and after disaster strikes. Leaders from HCA Healthcare and its Enterprise Emergency Operations Center (EEOC) diligently prepared ahead of the storm to help ensure hospitals had the resources, including medications, food, water and generator power, to continue caring for patients and colleagues. When the forecasted trajectory of Hurricane Ian changed, HCA Healthcare and the EEOC adjusted quickly to aid hospitals in its path.

HCA Healthcare’s Enterprise Emergency Operations Center (EEOC) supported HCA Florida Healthcare hospitals impacted by Hurricane Ian’s catastrophic floods and storm surges. (Nashville, Tenn.)

“In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian and unfortunate disasters like it, we tend to see such extraordinary stories of people reaching out to make a difference in all of our local communities. And by being there for our HCA Florida Healthcare family, our caregivers know that we are taking care of them and their families so they are able to show up and provide outstanding care and emotional support to our patients.”

Dr. Ravi Chari, president of HCA Healthcare West Florida Division

HCA Healthcare’s Human Resources and Supply Chain teams have set up on-site mini-marts, fuel stations, showers and laundry services in Florida to assist facilities, colleagues and nearby health systems in need. HCA Healthcare established the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund to support colleagues in disasters such as this. The HCA Healthcare Hope Fund is an employee-run, employee-supported 501(c)(3) charity that provides financial aid and resources to employees after an extended illness, injury, disaster or other special situations. Approximately $350,000 in HCA Healthcare Hope Fund grants have already been allocated to more than 400 HCA Healthcare colleagues affected by Hurricane Ian. In 2021, the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund provided $10.7 million in grants that helped more than 4,800 families.

A large orange HCA Florida Healthcare truck with boxes of supplies around it.
Frontline caregivers and support teams in Florida worked tirelessly to respond to Hurricane Ian. In the days immediately following the storm, HCA Florida Healthcare colleagues impacted by the storm were provided access to free fuel, laundry services and shower trucks as well as a mini-mart stocked with essentials.

Over the last six years, HCA Healthcare has provided more than $5 million in financial support to the Red Cross for disaster relief efforts, including Hurricane Harvey in 2017, hurricanes Florence and Michael in 2018, and the Texas winter storms and Kentucky tornadoes in 2021. Most recently, HCA Healthcare gave $100,000 to the Red Cross during historic flooding in Kentucky. For the last four years, HCA Healthcare has contributed a total of $1.75 million to the Red Cross’ Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) which helps the Red Cross respond immediately to disasters, helps families during the recovery process and prepares people for future emergencies.

Two HCA Healthcare colleagues looking at a computer
To ensure the safety of patients, HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital House Supervisor Michelle Dawkins worked alongside Emergency Room Director Vicky Boyette to coordinate patient transfers in the wake of Hurricane Ian. (Port Charlotte, Fla.)

About HCA Healthcare

HCA Healthcare, one of the nation's leading providers of healthcare services, is comprised of 183 hospitals and more than 2,300 sites of care, in 20 states and the United Kingdom. Our more than 283,000 colleagues are connected by a single purpose — to give patients healthier tomorrows.

As an enterprise, we recognize the significant responsibility we have as a leading healthcare provider within each of the communities we serve, as well as the opportunity we have to improve the lives of the patients for whom we are entrusted to care. Through the compassion, knowledge and skill of our caregivers, and our ability to leverage our scale and innovative capabilities, HCA Healthcare is in a unique position to play a leading role in the transformation of care.

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