HCA Healthcare Named a 2021 World’s Most Ethical Company

Ethisphere designation honors companies who understand the importance of leading, making values-based decisions, and their overall commitment to integrity

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA), one of the nation’s leading healthcare providers, today announced that it has been recognized for the 11^th time by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, as one of the 2021 World’s Most Ethical Companies. HCA Healthcare is one of only seven honorees in the Healthcare Providers category.

“We are honored to again be recognized as a World’s Most Ethical Company and owe it all to our incredible colleagues, especially those working on the front lines,” said Sam Hazen, chief executive officer of HCA Healthcare. “This acknowledgement underscores that, even when faced with a threat to public health and safety like that of a pandemic, we are committed to doing what’s right for our people, our patients, our communities and other stakeholders.”

The COVID-19 pandemic was at the forefront of 2020 and HCA Healthcare responded by protecting its colleagues and patients, and by partnering with others to improve care beyond the organization. HCA Healthcare has not laid-off a single employee due to the pandemic, and in April, it instituted a pandemic pay program, which allowed the organization to continue to pay more than 127,000 colleagues, even when their hours were affected by the significant decrease in patients visiting hospitals across the country. Additionally, HCA Healthcare hospitals do not bill patients who are diagnosed with COVID-19, whether they have insurance or not, for testing or hospital care related to the treatment of COVID-19.

As a learning health system, HCA Healthcare analyzes data from its approximately 35 million patient encounters each year to develop best practices that improve patient care. To help combat COVID-19, the health system teamed up with Google and SADA on a data portal to help communities prepare and respond to COVID-19, offered more than $1 million to local community partners to aid in coronavirus relief efforts and participated in the White House collaborative to provide up to 1,000 ventilators to other health systems.

“The world has faced tremendous obstacles this past year, but we are proud to be recognized for the positive impact we are having in the communities that we serve,” said Kathi Whalen, senior vice president and chief ethics and compliance officer at HCA Healthcare. “During these challenging times, our colleagues have shown an unwavering commitment to doing what is right.”

In 2020, HCA Healthcare donated more than $45 million to community organizations and provided charity care, uninsured discounts and other uncompensated care at a cost of $3.4 billion. Last year, HCA Healthcare colleagues spent more than 83,000 hours volunteering in the communities they serve. As part of its sustainability plan, HCA Healthcare seeks to protect and preserve the environment inside and outside of its facilities by encouraging the reduction of energy usage throughout its facilities and considering the environment in all new construction and renovation projects. In 2020, HCA Healthcare hospitals across the country were honored with 60 national Practice Greenhealth awards for their steadfast sustainability efforts.

Recognition by Ethisphere is in part affirmation of HCA Healthcare’s commitment to fostering a culture of diversity and belief that excellence in healthcare starts with a foundation of inclusion, compassion and respect. HCA Healthcare continues to deliver on this promise exemplified in recent diversity and inclusion efforts, including its award-winning BRAVE Conversations program, which provides colleagues an opportunity to discuss complex topics in a safe and respectful setting. HCA Healthcare also announced a $10 million investment over the next three years in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HCBUs) and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs).

Additionally, in response to a heightened focus on racial injustice, HCA Healthcare instituted a provisional social justice match, which supported gifts from colleagues to organizations and nonprofits supporting racial justice and addressing health equity for communities of color. In total, HCA Healthcare and its colleagues helped make an impact of $227,364 across 21 total organizations from June 5 to July 31, 2020.

“While addressing the tough challenges of 2020, HCA Healthcare led through resilience and a commitment to ethics and integrity,” said Ethisphere CEO, Timothy Erblich. “The World’s Most Ethical Companies honorees continue to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to the highest values and positively impacting the communities they serve. Congratulations to everyone at HCA Healthcare for earning the World’s Most Ethical Companies designation.”

In 2021, Ethisphere recognized 135 honorees spanning 22 countries and 47 industries. The full list of the 2021 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees.

About HCA Healthcare

Nashville-based HCA Healthcare is one of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare services comprising more than 2,000 sites of care, including 185 hospitals, surgery centers, freestanding ERs, urgent care centers, and physician clinics, in 20 states and the United Kingdom. With its founding in 1968, HCA Healthcare created a new model for hospital care in the United States, using combined resources to strengthen hospitals, deliver patient-focused care and improve the practice of medicine. HCA Healthcare has conducted a number of clinical studies, including one that demonstrated that full-term delivery is healthier than early elective delivery of babies and another that identified a clinical protocol that can reduce bloodstream infections in ICU patients by 44 percent. HCA Healthcare is a learning health system that uses its more than 35 million annual patient encounters to advance science, improve patient care and save lives. Please click here to connect with HCA Healthcare on social media.