HCA Healthcare announces HCA Healthcare Foundation’s support of Girl Scouts Mental Wellness Patch Program

Today, we are proud to announce the HCA Healthcare Foundation has helped Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) launch a new series of Mental Wellness Patch Programs to address mental wellness among girls in 4^th through 12^th grade. This is a result of the HCA Healthcare Foundation’s $1.38 million grant to GSUSA, through the Healthier Tomorrow Fund, which was announced last year.   

The GSUSA Mental Wellness Patch Programs, developed in partnership with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and the GSUSA Program Advisory Committee, including HCA Healthcare behavioral health experts, are currently available to all councils nationwide. The programs, Knowing My Emotions, Finding My Voice and Showing Up for Me and You, encourage girls to:

• Learn about mental wellness for themselves and others;
• Recognize and understand their feelings;
• Effectively cope with mental health challenges; and
• Feel comfortable seeking help.

The 90-minute programs include activities, such as making art or writing poetry, that foster resilience and help girls to better understand their world. Program materials also contain meeting aids, parent/caregiver resources, teaser activities and marketing tools to equip Girl Scout troop leaders and council staff with support and activities focused on mental wellness, behavioral issues and healthy habits. Each patch program also includes an adult facilitator guide to help adults approach girls in a sensitive way, prompt important conversations and guide them through difficult moments.  

“We’re so grateful for the support of HCA Healthcare and its foundation for helping us provide these critical resources to Girl Scouts,” said Bonnie Barczykowski, CEO of GSUSA. “Fostering positive mental health habits has always been a focus of our work, but it’s needed now more than ever.”

In addition to the national support of GSUSA, The HCA Healthcare Foundation has supported Girl Scouts locally since 1998 and in 2017 expanded to support specialty troops, including those with unhoused girls. In July, HCA Healthcare was a national sponsor of Phenom by Girl Scouts, an event that attracted more than 10,000 Girl Scouts. At the event, Girl Scouts and their parents or guardians participated in a variety of activities, including visiting HCA Healthcare’s booth to learn more about the Mental Wellness Patch Program.

HCA Healthcare is committed to promoting mental wellness for our patients, colleagues and communities. With approximately 2,300 sites of care, including 182 hospitals, in communities across 20 states, HCA Healthcare uses the knowledge and data from more than 320,000 annual behavioral health patient encounters to make positive advances in the ways it provides care to our patients.

In communities across the country, HCA Healthcare has responded to the need for mental health awareness through partnerships, including:

• EVERFI: Since 2020, HCA Healthcare has collaborated with EVERFI, an international technology company driving social change through education, to implement an interactive, mental health and wellness digital education course for middle and high school students. With HCA Healthcare’s support, the Understanding Mental Wellness course has reached more than 175,000 students and approximately 2,200 teachers at more than 800 schools across all 15 of HCA Healthcare’s U.S. divisions as of June 30, 2023.
• Volunteers of America: Last year, HCA Healthcare announced the HCA Healthcare Foundation and the Healthier Tomorrow Fund made a $600,000 grant to Volunteers of America (VOA) to promote mental wellness and resilience among first responders, including fire, police, EMT personnel and hospital and emergency staff. 
• The Jason Foundation:  Since 2013, HCA Healthcare has partnered with The Jason Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to the prevention of youth suicide through educational and awareness programs that equip young people, educators/youth workers, and parents with the tools and resources to help identify and assist at-risk youth.
• Psych Hub podcast series: Last year, HCA Healthcare and Psych Hub, the world’s largest mental health education platform, in collaboration with Columbia University’s Department of Psychiatry, partnered to create two podcast series: “You Ask, We Answer” and “Coming Back Better” to bring people credible online mental health education.

For more information on the Girl Scouts Mental Wellness Patch Program, or to join Girl Scouts, visit Mental Wellness Patches (girlscouts.org).