We’re wrapping up this year’s Corporate Caring for the Community Campaign and this year, like past years, was a huge success. The campaign runs for one month, with two full work days available to volunteer at a local nonprofit. It is one of the great highlights of the year for us. The 2012 numbers are in and I’m excited to share them with you, but first, let me bring you up to speed in case you’re not familiar with what it’s all about. Each year HCA employees can choose just about any 501c3 charity they’d like to support and then… Read more.

Every year around this time, HCA employees come together to participate in our Caring for the Community Campaign. It’s a chance for employees to take a day and donate their time to local nonprofits. This year’s theme, “Above and Beyond”, is much more than a catchy phrase; it’s a symbol of the outstanding efforts that HCA and Middle Tennessee’s not-for-profit and volunteer agencies make every day to provide help and hope to the less fortunate. The campaign kicks off on August 29 when the more than 150 agencies [pdf] participate in our Agency Fair at Centennial Park in Nashville, giving… Read more.

Dr. Justin Bundy, a spine surgeon at Doctors Hospital of Augusta, Augusta, Ga. who has performed spinal surgeries helping local patients for years, is now one of two spine surgeons with the Straight Caribbean Spine Foundation which helps children in Jamaica through free lifesaving scoliosis surgery. “The country has only 20 orthopedic surgeons, none of whom perform spinal surgeries on pediatric patients,” says Dr. Bundy. “On our first of seven days, the amount of people who showed up to the clinic was overwhelming. We had about 80 families bring their children from across the country, hoping that they would be… Read more.

We announced the recipients of our 2011 Frist Humanitarian Awards earlier this week. Now we’d like to share three quick videos with you to give a little more detail on each of the recipients; Dr. Frank Cirisano, Kelli Jantz, RN and Dick Adams.    

Dr. Thomas Frist, Sr., a founder of HCA was known for saying “good people beget good people.” He was a true humanitarian, believing in the good of people and that with hard work and a positive attitude, anyone could achieve their goals. He practiced this through his caring spirit and philanthropic work. Since 1971, we’ve honored employees and hospital volunteers annually who demonstrate this same dedication to caring for others with The Frist Humanitarian Award. Volunteer recipients of the award receive a $5,000 donation to the charity of their choice and $5,000 in cash to use as they wish. Medical… Read more.

Last weekend, runners from across the U.S. came to Nashville (our hometown) to participate in the Country Music Marathon. At HCA, 452 of our employees and their family members laced up their shoes and ran or walked the full or half marathon. They were part of what we call Team HCA. 

With every New Year comes the hope of improving upon the year before. Maybe you want to improve something about yourself or your family. Or maybe you want to help improve your local community by supporting your local nonprofit. Nonprofit giving still hasn’t returned to pre-recession levels, and one report suggests that we won’t see that level of giving until 2016. The silver lining in that report, however, is that giving did increase 2.1% from 2009 to 2010 which is a small step in the right direction. People ask me all the time how they can help and I always… Read more.

The San Francisco 49er linebackers have the biggest hearts in the NFL, and they reach out to their tiniest fans. Throughout the season, the linebackers fine themselves for minor violations like being late for activities, bad language, lapses in attitude, etc. Near the end of the season, they use the fund to buy holiday gifts for children in the greater 49er community – and they deliver them personally. This year’s visit from the 49ers brought Parys Harolson, NaVorro Bowman, Monte Simmons and Patrick Willis to Good Samaritan Hospital’s Pediatrics, Mother/Baby Unit, Pediatrics Intensive Care Unit and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.… Read more.

We’re wrapping up one of my favorite times of the year. The leaves on the trees here in Nashville are peaking and the air is getting just a bit colder foreshadowing the winter that’s just around the corner. This time of year is also great because at HCA, we recently completed our annual employee giving campaign and the stories are beginning to come in from the people in the community we were able to help.