Year in Review: HCA Healthcare’s top 10 stories of 2024

As we wrap up 2024, we’re reflecting on an extraordinary year of advancing HCA Healthcare’s mission: Above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life. Over 366 days (yes, 2024 was a leap year), HCA Healthcare’s more than 309,000 colleagues delivered innovative and compassionate care, supported community health initiatives and responded powerfully in the face of destructive natural disasters.

Below, we have compiled a list of HCA Healthcare stories and milestones that you engaged with the most from the past year.

(February) HCA Healthcare Hope Fund awarded $100 million in grants to colleagues

What began as an informal way to help colleagues impacted by devastating hurricanes in 2004 has since evolved into the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public charity run by colleagues, for colleagues. Since its founding in 2005, the charity has provided emergency funds to colleagues when significant hardships arise due to illness, injury, natural disasters or other difficult situations. In February 2024, the Hope Fund surpassed a large milestone: $100 million in grants awarded.

In the fall of 2024, the Hope Fund stood ready to help colleagues who had immediate and near-term needs as a result of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. By December 2024, more than 3,300 colleagues turned to the Hope Fund for assistance, with more than $2.8 million in grants distributed to those impacted by the storms.

Did you know? Each year, more than 35,000 donors contribute to the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund to help their peers facing financial hardships. If you would like to donate to the Hope Fund or apply for assistance, visit: www.HCAHopeFund.com.

(April, May and October) Expanding nurse education opportunities

HCA Healthcare and Galen College of Nursing are committed to improving the future of nursing together by addressing the industrywide nursing shortage through increased access to quality education, training and career development opportunities. In 2024, four HCA Healthcare divisions celebrated the grand openings of new Galen campuses.

In April 2024, alongside HCA Healthcare’s Mountain Division,  Galen College of Nursing cut the ribbon on its Utah campus in the Salt Lake Valley, officially celebrating its opening. The more than 31,000 sq. ft. campus features modern resources, creating a unique hands-on learning experience.

One month later, we celebrated the grand opening of two Galen College of Nursing campuses in Texas. The Dallas campus grand opening, commemorated alongside HCA Healthcare’s North Texas Division, not only marked the inauguration of the new campus but also provided an opportunity for attendees to explore the college and experience firsthand the simulated lab demonstrations that are a cornerstone of Galen’s innovative approach to nursing education. HCA Healthcare’s Gulf Coast Division joined the grand opening festivities for Galen’s campus in Houston. The Houston campus’ academic programs include a 3-year BSN program, a 2-year LVN to ADN bridge program and a 1-year LVN program.

In October 2024, Galen College of Nursing celebrated the opening of its new Las Vegas campus. Jackie Van Blaricum, president of HCA Healthcare Far West Division, emphasized the importance of this milestone, “The opening of Galen’s Las Vegas campus couldn’t come at a more critical time. By cultivating homegrown nursing talent, we’re not only helping to address the shortage but also building a sustainable healthcare workforce for our hospitals and communities. This campus represents an investment in the future of healthcare in Nevada, and the nurses who graduate from here will be the ones shaping that future.”

Galen College of Nursing has online programs as well as campuses across the country. This year, Galen also announced plans to further expand in 2025, including the opening of campuses in Aurora, Colorado, Pooler, Georgia and Orlando.

(April) Surprise graduation ceremony for North Carolina nurse goes viral

In April 2024, a surprise graduation ceremony at an HCA Healthcare hospital in North Carolina went viral on the social media platform, TikTok. HCA Healthcare nurse Danielle “Elle” Fox serves as a labor and delivery (L&D) clinical nurse coordinator at Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina. She has provided care for mothers and babies at the hospital since 2018. “I feel incredibly supported by the team on L&D, from scrub techs, patient care techs, CNAs, nurses, doctors – it’s everyone on the floor,” said Elle. “I work with the very best team.”

In pursuit of enhancing her leadership capabilities, Elle embarked in a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree program. When it came time for her Master’s graduation in April, Elle decided that she wasn’t going to travel to the ceremony several states away – even though she was named valedictorian. But that didn’t stop her Mission Hospital colleagues from throwing her a surprise hospital graduation ceremony to celebrate her achievements.

When Elle was called to her unit desk for an “emergency,” she was met by her colleagues who had made her a graduation cap, gown and chords. Fellow nurses and other members of Elle’s hospital family lined the hallway of her unit and encouraged her to walk as they cheered and clapped. Her video posted to TikTok has now surpassed over 5.8 million views.

Related article: Leading the way: 12 HCA Healthcare nurses share their stories

Elle shared that she did not have any regrets about not attending her formal graduation ceremony. “There is nothing I would have changed other than having my husband, kids and family witness the sweetest graduation on my unit in person. I would much rather be celebrated by close friends than thousands of people I don’t know,” said Elle. “We helped bring a lot of babies into the world that day, and I was right where I was supposed to be.”

Elle has been accepted to Johns Hopkins University and will be working toward a doctorate in nursing.

(April) Moving medicine forward with clinical research

In 2024, colleagues and clinicians across HCA Healthcare continued to leverage our size and scale to support clinical research needs and collaborate with industry partners to advance medicine.

INSPIRE: In April 2024, we shared the results of two multi-state studies published in the Journal of American Medical Association that uncovered a highly effective way to improve antibiotic selection for patients hospitalized with pneumonia or urinary tract infections (UTI), enabling better antibiotic stewardship in hospitals. The two studies, the INSPIRE Pneumonia and UTI Trials, involved more than 220,000 patients with pneumonia or UTI in 59 HCA Healthcare hospitals. In half of the hospitals, clinicians were given algorithm-driven computerized alerts with information about the best antibiotic match for an individual patient at the moment antibiotics were being prescribed. This resulted in a better match for 28% of pneumonia patients and 17% of patients with UTI when compared to hospitals where physicians were not provided with alerts according to the trials.

CLUSTER: In a separate study published in NEJM Evidence in April 2024, researchers demonstrated that an automated detection tool could reduce the size of outbreaks by 64% in the trial period preceding the COVID-19 pandemic in a study of 82 HCA Healthcare hospitals. The algorithm-driven technology used clinical laboratory data to provide real-time alerts to hospital infection prevention programs about the potential transmission of over 100 bacterial and fungal species. This method relied on an automated review of organisms grown from patients’ clinical cultures and a statistical assessment of whether an increase was seen compared to prior experience. Detected increases triggered an automatic notification for hospital personnel to implement a response protocol to prevent additional cases.

“Despite significant progress in reducing healthcare-associated infection outbreaks, including of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, they remain an industry challenge and can present as clusters that signal potential for transmission to patients,” said Joseph Perz, DrPH, MA, Senior Advisor for Public Health Programs in CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, and committee member for the CDC’s Council for Outbreak Response: Healthcare-Associated Infections in a press release. “The CLUSTER trial provides evidence that early detection powered by automation tools and quick action can prevent outbreaks from growing.”

Related article: Researchers Use AI to Identify Healthcare-Based Outbreaks (HealthLeaders Media)

Each of these studies was led by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, HCA Healthcare and the University of California, Irvine, and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

(June) Advancing healthcare career pathways

In June 2024, the HCA Healthcare Foundation, through its Healthier Tomorrow Fund, announced it will donate $1 million over the next three years to the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations (Consortium) to help fund its Career Pathways to a Healthier Florida program. The Career Pathways to a Healthier Florida program aims to help create and expand healthcare career pathways for underserved high school students across the state of Florida.

The Florida Chamber Foundation’s Workforce Needs Study estimates there to be a shortage of approximately 463,000 healthcare workers by the end of 2024. Through the Career Pathways to a Healthier Florida program, the Consortium will develop and manage a grant process that allows local education foundations to apply for grant funds in support of local projects that foster healthcare career pathways. The program will fund 15 local education foundations in Florida over the next three years, focusing on activities that lead to nursing or allied health tracks and include work-based learning, healthcare career exploration activities and industry certifications.

This year, we also continued partnering with higher education institutions nationwide to help strengthen the diversity in healthcare. Included among these partnerships announced this year:

• (Nashville, Tennessee) $600,000 to Meharry Medical College to support paid internship and scholarship opportunities over four years for graduate students in the School of Applied Computational Sciences
• (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) $500,000 to Nova Southeastern University to help establish a clinical simulation lab in support of their new nurse anesthesiology program
• (Savannah, Georgia) $650,000 to Savannah State University to support a paid internship program for students pursuing a master’s degree in social work
• (San Antonio, Texas) $200,000 to St. Mary’s University to support their Greehey School of Business

(August) Stroke survivor dances at his daughter’s wedding after recovery

This year, HCA Healthcare’s social media followers gravitated toward stroke survivor Manuel Vera’s story. With the help of his care team, Manuel danced his way through recovery in preparation for an important milestone – dancing with his daughter on her wedding day.

In February 2024, Manuel began experiencing stroke symptoms and was taken to HCA Florida Brandon Hospital, a Comprehensive Stroke Center. At the HCA Florida Healthcare hospital, Manuel quickly received a clot-busting medication, tenectaplase and life-saving stroke treatment. Following his inpatient stroke care, Manuel transitioned to the hospital’s inpatient rehabilitation center to continue his recovery.

“We create patient-centered goals upon evaluation, and Manny expressed his goal to be there for his daughter on her wedding day,” shared Heather Burk, a physical therapist at HCA Florida Brandon Hospital. “I love to use dance as balance therapy. So, I asked him if he planned to dance at the wedding. He then proceeded to tell me how dancing merengue and other styles with his daughter was a tradition.”

On his first day of therapy, Manuel’s goals were set, and he and his physical therapy team began a tailored treatment plan. In August, Manuel had the honor of walking his daughter, Nermais, down the aisle and they shared a special father-daughter dance — the merengue.

For those who experience a stroke and have to work hard to accomplish future goals, Vera offers this advice: “Don’t get discouraged. Be strong. If you want to cry, cry. Let it out … And no matter how hard it gets, don’t give up.”

(September) Transforming healthcare with technology and AI

In 2024, HCA Healthcare worked to innovate and further develop healthcare solutions that improve the care experience for both patients and providers. A few of our key initiatives this year included Timpani, Augmedix Go and Nurse Handoff.

• Timpani scheduling and staffing solution is a clinical labor management platform designed to deliver more transparent and balanced schedules for HCA Healthcare’s care team members. With Timpani in place at roughly 50 HCA Healthcare facilities, plans are in place for implementation at nearly 90 additional locations by the end of 2025*.
• Augmedix Go is an ambient medical documentation tool designed to help physicians more quickly and easily document key medical information from conversations during patient visits. The pilot is currently underway with approximately 80 emergency room physicians at four HCA Healthcare facilities*.
• Nurse handoff, an AI-driven technology solution designed by our nurses for nurses in collaboration with Google Cloud, distills the most relevant patient data identified by nurses into an auto-generated report. With more than 60,000 nurse handoffs occurring daily across all HCA Healthcare facilities, this tool aims to support seamless, streamlined nurse-to-nurse handoffs during shift change. Proof of concept testing and pilots for the nurse handoff tool are taking place at four HCA Healthcare hospitals, with 89% of participating nurses rating the tool as helpful*.

*Data current as of September 2024.

Related article: The Future of Medicine: AI’s Role in Health Care – Federation of American Hospitals

(September and October) Preparing for and responding to Hurricanes Helene and Milton

Katrina. Harvey. Michael. Ian. These unforgettable names are infamous in hurricane history for the magnitude of their aftermath. In the fall of 2024, Hurricanes Helene and Milton joined this list.

Hurricane Helene, which impacted Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Virginia as a Category 4 storm, is the second deadliest hurricane – behind Katrina in 2005 – to make landfall this century in the continental United States. In western North Carolina, catastrophic flooding from Helene wiped out entire communities, destroyed the infrastructure of multiple towns and caused more than 200 deaths. Two weeks later, Hurricane Milton struck Florida as a Category 3 storm that spawned roughly four dozen tornadoes throughout the state and caused massive flooding in central and west Florida.

Related article: Special Edition 2024 | HCA Healthcare Magazine

Throughout these two large scale disasters – as well as Hurricanes Beryl and Debby, which also impacted the communities we serve – HCA Healthcare stood ready with the resources needed to provide uninterrupted patient care and to support our colleagues and communities. Our national network of resources, including colleagues, supplies, vendor relationships and more, allowed us to respond immediately in a way that only HCA Healthcare can. Our scale sets us apart, and the skills and dedication of our people makes our crisis response possible. When disaster strikes, we show up.

Related article: Nurses, doctors from across U.S. rush to aid exhausted Asheville-area hospital staff (USA Today)

(October) Record-breaking “Crush the Crisis”

On October 26, 2024, colleagues and volunteers across HCA Healthcare worked with local law enforcement to host our annual “Crush the Crisis” prescription drug take back day event, collecting a record-breaking 21,137 pounds of unused or expired medications – the most our organization has ever collected. Held in alignment with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, the HCA Healthcare events spanned over 125 collection sites and gathered an estimated 14.5 million doses of medication.

The HCA Healthcare facilities that helped collect the greatest amount of medication during the event this year include:

• CJW Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia collected 992 pounds
• HCA HealthONE Aurora in Aurora, Colorado collected 861 pounds
• HCA HealthONE Sky Ridge in Lone Tree, Colorado collected 842 pounds
• Medical City McKinney in McKinney, Texas collected 694 pounds
• HCA HealthONE Mountain Ridge in Thornton, Colorado collected 534 pounds

This year’s milestone brings HCA Healthcare’s total collection since launching “Crush the Crisis” as an enterprise initiative in 2019 to over 88,600 pounds, underscoring our commitment to helping communities safely and anonymously dispose of unused or expired medications.

(December) Lifesaving impact of hospital care on congenital heart defect patient

We first introduced Baby Beckett to our followers in 2023 after he received lifesaving treatment for his congenital heart defect at HCA Healthcare affiliate Medical City Children’s Hospital in Dallas. Beckett was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). HLHS is considered a critical congenital heart defect, occurring when the left side of the heart does not form correctly during pregnancy, affecting normal blood flow through the heart. 

After his birth, Beckett was transferred to Medical City Children’s Hospital, where a highly skilled team, including surgeons, physicians, nurses and more, performed three open heart surgeries and delivered the care Beckett needed.

“Every single family that comes into our heart center is a part of our family from day one. We have a huge team that cares for these babies. In Beckett’s case, 40 to 50 people at least were involved in caring for this one little baby,” shared the baby’s physician, Dr. Kristine Guleserian, Congenital Heart Surgery Program Director at Medical City Children’s Hospital.

Related article: Expert Voices: Meet the woman leading one of the country’s top congenital heart programs

“We had all of his care here in the same building,” shared Austin Keisler, Beckett’s father. “We had a plan and built relationships with the people that were going to be saving our son’s life. We met with Dr. Guleserian before he was even born.” Austin and Beckett’s mother, Kayla, showed their appreciation for their son’s care team by keeping a candy jar stocked for them.

On the day Beckett was finally cleared to go home with his parents, Medical City Children’s Hospital colleagues filled the hospital with bubbles, cheers and well wishes to celebrate Beckett’s successful recovery. Today, Beckett is hitting all the milestones for a healthy one-year-old.

Kayla gives all the credit to her son’s care team, saying, “Our son would not be here without a hospital.” In the winter of 2024, Beckett’s story was highlighted as part of the Coalition to Strengthen America’s Healthcare’s new campaign, underscoring the importance of the life-saving, essential and specialized care that only hospitals provide.

For more stories that celebrate HCA Healthcare’s positive impact, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and X.