NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

HCA Healthcare (NYSE: HCA), a leading healthcare provider with 179 hospitals, 120 freestanding surgery centers and numerous other healthcare facilities, has been named for the ninth consecutive year as one of the Ethisphere Institute’s World’s Most Ethical Companies. The Ethisphere Institute is a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices. HCA is one of only eight healthcare providers honored on this year’s list.

“HCA was founded on trust, integrity and a common mission to care for and improve human life,” said Milton Johnson, HCA’s chairman and chief executive officer. “This honor is a reflection of our commitment to demonstrate these shared values every day and support our 50-year tradition of caring for our patients and the communities we serve.”

Throughout its 50-year history, and in the face of historic disasters, HCA has served its patients, partners and communities with dignity and respect. During hurricanes Harvey and Irma in 2017, HCA caregivers treated approximately 12,000 patients; HCA donated $1 million to the American Red Cross to support communities in need; the HCA Hope Fund, the company’s employee assistance nonprofit organization, gave grants of $3.4 million to help thousands of affected employees; and HCA colleagues donated nearly 9,000 hours of paid time off to support coworkers who needed time away from work to rebuild their lives.

HCA also provided charity care, uninsured discounts and other uncompensated care at a cost of $2.8 billion in 2016 (the most recent data available). HCA’s culture of inclusion continues to support the delivery of culturally competent care, with affiliates using more than 160 languages and dialects to communicate with their diverse patient populations. With approximately five percent of all hospital services in the U.S. occurring at an HCA facility, the company uses data from its more than 28 million annual patient encounters to advance science, improve patient care and save lives.

“We are honored to have once again been recognized as one of Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies,” said Alan Yuspeh, HCA’s senior vice president and chief ethics and compliance officer. “It’s a recognition of our 240,000 employees who maintain a positive work environment and build and maintain trust with our patients and communities.”

The World's Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute’s Ethics Quotient® (EQ) framework which offers a quantitative way to assess a company’s performance in an objective, consistent and standardized way. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies, rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics.

In 2018, 135 honorees were recognized, spanning 23 countries and 57 industries. The full list of the honorees can be found at http://worldsmostethicalcompanies.ethisphere.com/honorees/.

The Ethisphere® Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character and measure and improve culture. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World’s Most Ethical Companies recognition program and provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA). More information about Ethisphere can be found at: https://ethisphere.com.

About HCA Healthcare

Nashville-based HCA Healthcare is one of the nation's leading providers of healthcare services, operating 179 locally managed hospitals, 120 freestanding surgery centers and numerous other healthcare facilities in 20 states and the United Kingdom. With its founding in 1968, HCA 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 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 is a learning healthcare system that uses its more than 28 million annual patient encounters to advance science, improve patient care and save lives. Please click here to connect with HCA on social media.

All references to “Company” and “HCA” as used throughout this document refer to HCA Healthcare, Inc. and its affiliates.

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