HCA Healthcare colleague earns Military Friendly® 2023 Employee Veteran Leadership Award

VIQTORY’s Military Friendly® program recently honored HCA Healthcare colleague Alex Kell, a senior director with our Information Technology Group, with a 2023 Employee Veteran Leadership Award (EVLA). The prestigious award program selects veterans for having a positive impact on the organizations they work for, as well as the military and veteran community. The 26 EVLA honorees on this year’s list demonstrate the finest qualities of the United States military, including leadership, teamwork, discipline, determination, adaptability and a strong work ethic.

“I believe her military experience taught Alex discipline, focus, comradery and loyalty. Alex brings all of this to the table with her leadership,” said Jim Powlus, Alex’s supervisor and vice president of implementation and operations with HCA Healthcare’s Information Technology Group. “I am so excited for Alex and appreciative that her passion and commitment to her fellow veterans has been recognized.”

Alex served as a medical service corps officer in the U.S. Army from 2012-2018. After earning her master’s degree in healthcare administration, Alex joined HCA Healthcare in 2019 as a health information exchange analyst and has grown her career to now serve as a senior director with HCA Healthcare’s Information Technology Group.

Alex was called to pursue a career at HCA Healthcare following a graduate course assignment. “I like the work environment, but I specifically appreciate the culture,” Alex said. “HCA Healthcare’s culture is similar to the military in that it prioritizes caring like family and supporting one another. HCA Healthcare seeks to connect colleagues with a higher purpose and people from the military are looking for that again after separation.”

Alex is currently participating in HCA Healthcare’s Leadership Institute Leadership Excellence Program, which empowers leaders within our organization to drive strategy and grow the business.

In addition to her job duties, Alex voluntarily leads HCA Healthcare’s corporate chapter of our Veterans Colleague Network, which connects and supports veterans, active duty military members and their families across HCA Healthcare. Under Alex’s leadership, the corporate Veteran’s Colleague Network has grown to more than 173 members since its launch in March 2022.

The Military Friendly® program by VIQTORY aims to advocate for veterans in the workforce and to provide transparency through their benchmarking program. HCA Healthcare has been recognized as a military-friendly and military-spouse-friendly employer by VIQTORY for 13 consecutive years.

The designation recognizes the work HCA Healthcare is doing to support and employ veterans, including:

• Launching an internal mentoring program for veterans and military spouses, which has helped recently transitioned veterans navigate the civilian workforce.
• Growing a Veteran Colleague Network, a colleague-led, self-directed voluntary network facilitating connection, collaboration and celebration among colleagues.
• Offering military leave and supplemental pay to eligible colleagues and supporting those who want to continue to serve as active-duty military while working at HCA Healthcare.
• Partnering with the U.S. Army Medical Recruiting Brigade to create the Patriot Partnership Program, which allows the Army to provide specialized training for residency and fellowship programs nationwide.
• Serving on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Veteran Employment and Military Spouse Employment Councils.
• Working with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation on the “Hiring 100,000 Military Spouses” campaign to help military spouses seeking meaningful 21^st-century career opportunities. As a founding coalition member in 2021, HCA Healthcare hired more than 1,100 military spouses.
• In the past five years, HCA Healthcare has given approximately $900,000 to national and local veteran support organizations such as REBOOT Recovery and the Gary Sinise Foundation.

Across the HCA Healthcare network, more than 40,000 veterans, active-duty personnel and military spouses use their unique talents and strengths to create a positive impact for our patients. In celebration of Military Appreciation Month, which is observed each May, HCA Healthcare thanks our veteran colleagues, like Alex, for their commitment to our mission: caring for and improving human life.

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