The way healthcare was intended®

HCA Healthcare founders Dr. Thomas Frist Sr., Dr. Thomas Frist Jr. and Jack Massey envisioned a healthcare company with the scale, resources and clinical expertise to provide care focused on the patient.

HCA Healthcare


In 1968, they formed Hospital Corporation of America (HCA). At that time, HCA Healthcare was one of the first hospital companies in the United States. Many communities were quickly growing and needed more access to healthcare.

“Bricks and mortar do not make a hospital. People do.”

Dr. Thomas Frist, Sr.

HCA Healthcare Co-Founder

HCA Healthcare worked with local physicians and used new business practices and its access to capital to bring healthcare to growing areas throughout the country.

The company expanded. HCA Healthcare built new hospitals in under-served communities, bought and upgraded existing facilities, and collaborated to manage hospitals for other owners.

HCA Healthcare built a core group of leading hospitals by using its medical background, financial resources and management expertise. This approach continues more than 50 years later.

“The great hospitals will always put the patient and the patient’s family first, and the really great institutions will provide care with warmth, compassion and dignity for the individual.”

Dr. Thomas Frist, Sr.

HCA Healthcare Co-Founder

Today, HCA Healthcare is one of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare services.

  • Located in 20 states and the United Kingdom
  • Made up of locally managed facilities that include more than 180 hospitals and approximately 2,400 sites of care
  • Uses data from more than 43 million patient encounters each year to advance science and improve care everywhere
  • Shares knowledge and insights with the larger healthcare community
  • Published several medical studies in peer-reviewed journals by conducting large-scale clinical research with partners including Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)