HCA Healthcare Hope Fund turns 20: A legacy of supporting colleagues in need

The year 2025 marks a profound milestone: celebrating 20 years of compassion, generosity and unwavering support for our colleagues and their families through the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund. What began as a simple idea in response to the devastating 2004 hurricane season has grown into a colleague-run, colleague-supported 501(c)(3) charity – one that has given more than $122 million in assistance to colleagues in need.

Since its inception in 2005, the Hope Fund has provided emergency funds to HCA Healthcare colleagues when they face significant hardships due to illness, injury, natural disasters or other unexpected situations that impact their essential needs. All HCA Healthcare colleagues are able to contribute to the Hope Fund as well as apply for help.

More than 50,000 HCA Healthcare colleagues and their families have received assistance when they needed it most thanks to the incredible generosity of more than 37,000 donors.

So far in 2025, $ 6.7 million in assistance has been distributed to our colleagues through more than 2,178 grants. Each grant represents a colleague and their family whose lives were changed by the kindness of donors.

As we honor this 20-year milestone and Hope Fund Week 2025, we’re sharing stories of colleagues from across the country who received hope when it mattered most.

North Carolina pharmacist finds hope after Hurricane Helene

In September 2024, Hurricane Helene brought devastation to communities across Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina. The community that Glenda Laws – lead pharmacist at HCA Healthcare’s Blue Ridge Regional Hospital in Spruce Pine, North Carolina – calls home was among the hardest hit.

What began as a typical day for Glenda quickly escalated into a fight for survival as floodwaters caused by Hurricane Helene surged into her home. The Mission Health colleague and her family escaped to a neighbor’s house, wading through rising, fast-moving water. Although they evacuated safely, the damage was devastating.

Despite her home no longer being livable and losing her car, Glenda still showed up to work determined to help care for those in her community. Her resilience was remarkable, but she needed help too. That’s when human resources team members encouraged Glenda to apply to the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund.

Thanks to the generosity of donors, the Hope Fund was there when she needed it most. Shortly after applying, Glenda received support that helped her family meet their immediate needs of clothing and bedding among other basic necessities that had been washed away in the flooding. That support didn’t just provide relief. It restored a sense of stability and reminded Glenda that she wasn’t alone.

Related article: HCA Healthcare to donate $1 million towards Hurricane Helene disaster relief efforts in North Carolina

When cancer changed everything for a Florida GME resident, the Hope Fund stepped in

Alberto Calle, a graduate medical education (GME) resident at HCA Florida Oak Hill Hospital, came to the United States from Ecuador to study anesthesiology. In May 2024, his life took an unexpected turn. After experiencing severe abdominal pain, Alberto went to the hospital where he was diagnosed with gastric cancer and urgently needed treatment.  

HCA Healthcare supported Alberto’s transfer to one of our hospitals in Florida, where he transitioned from an anesthesia residency program to a family medicine program – a change that better suited his treatment plan. The 26 rounds of chemotherapy were only the beginning. Alberto later faced a bowel obstruction that required intensive care. For three months, he was unable to eat or drink, placing a significant strain on his body – and on his finances. 

A GME team member visiting the Brooksville, Florida hospital who heard about Alberto’s story suggested he apply for help from the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund. Alberto wasn’t sure it was the right step, but he ultimately decided to apply. 

The support Alberto received through the Hope Fund made a meaningful difference during a challenging time. Today, he’s looking forward to completing his residency program in July 2026. Through this journey, Alberto says he’s witnessed extraordinary compassion – from an employer that stood by him, to caregivers who treated him with dignity, to colleagues who quietly support the Hope Fund.

“I am grateful for every single day,” Alberto shares. “I’m filled with gratitude for everyone who provided care, to me and to our patients.” 

Alberto’s experience on the other side of the hospital bed has changed him. “Living through this gives life more purpose,” he reflects. And now, he’s looking ahead, not only to the next step in his medical career, but to the chance to give back through contributing to the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund.

HCA Healthcare colleagues, if you are in need of assistance, learn more about applying for help. If you are able and want to join the more than 37,000 colleagues who have given hope by donating to the Hope Fund, visit our giving site today.

Hope Fund steps up to help Utah nurse after husband’s diagnosis

In September 2024, McKenna Hopkins, a labor and delivery nurse at HCA Healthcare’s Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem, Utah, and her husband Eric welcomed their baby boy, Calvin, into the world. But the joy of parenthood quickly took a backrow seat when Eric experienced a medical emergency the day before McKenna was scheduled to return to work from maternity leave.

Eric went to the emergency room at Timpanogos Regional Hospital, where doctors discovered a life-threatening brain tumor. He was quickly transferred to HCA Healthcare sister facility St. Mark’s Hospital in Salt Lake City for the surgery and follow-up care, all while McKenna cared for their newborn.

“For the next 20 days, St. Mark’s Hospital became our home,” McKenna said. “It’s where Eric re-learned how to walk, how to eat, how to be a dad and rebuild his strength to be the man he was before the surgery.”

During this time, a colleague from human resources encouraged McKenna to apply for the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund. “You are the people this fund is for,” she remembers the colleague telling her. Finding out she was approved to receive a grant allowed McKenna and Eric to focus on his recovery and their new family instead of worrying about the next bill in the mail.

As a recipient, McKenna encourages colleagues in need not to hesitate to ask for help if they need it. “If you are feeling hesitant to ask for help from the Hope Fund, I say stop that,” McKenna said. “You don’t have to have a brain tumor to receive help.”

Eric added, “The Hope Fund was something that helped us beyond what I think anyone could understand unless they were in a situation similar to ours. We wouldn’t have been able to get through everything as well as we did without it.”

Texas nurse leans on Hope Fund when he needed time to recover from surgery

Vince Clemens, a nurse at HCA Houston Pearland in Texas, was grateful for the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund when he became a patient himself. After Vince began experiencing shoulder pain, it gradually developed into adhesive capsulitis which commonly known as frozen shoulder. Vince shared that the pain he experienced felt like a knife digging into his tissue. His mobility became severely limited, and even steroid injections failed to bring relief. 

‌Doctors prescribed six weeks of complete rest. That meant no lifting, pulling or pushing. For Vince, that meant six weeks away from work, which would create an immediate financial strain. Fortunately, his human resources director stepped in and suggested that he apply for the Hope Fund. “They came through for me in a time of need,” he said.

Vince has always been a supporter the Hope Fund. However, now he is healed and back to work, he plans to contribute even more to pay his gratitude forward. His message to his colleagues as we celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund is a simple one: “Please sign up to donate out of every paycheck – it is going to help somebody.”