Employee-run, employee-supported charity helps more than 3,400 in the wake of recent hurricanes

NASHVILLE, Tenn., November 14, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The HCA Healthcare Hope Fund, a 501(c)(3) charity that helps HCA Healthcare employees and their immediate families who are affected by financial hardship, today announced that The Frist Foundation has donated $1 million to support HCA Healthcare colleagues impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Hurricane Helene made landfall as a powerful category 4 hurricane on Thursday, September 26, leaving more than four million people without power and causing major damage as it traveled throughout the Southeast. Less than two weeks later, Hurricane Milton hit the west coast of Florida as a category 3 hurricane bringing powerful wind, rain and flooding throughout the state. Since then, more than 3,400 colleagues have turned to the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund for assistance, with more than $2.7 million in grants already distributed to those impacted.

"We are grateful for The Frist Foundation’s compassionate support of our colleagues in the wake of the recent hurricanes," said Jen Berres, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at HCA Healthcare and chair of the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund. "The HCA Healthcare Hope Fund is proud to support HCA Healthcare colleagues when devastation strikes, and we are committed to helping our communities rebuild and recover."

The Frist Foundation was established in 1982, by two of HCA Healthcare’s founders – Dr. Thomas Frist, Sr. and Dr. Thomas Frist, Jr. The Frist Foundation invests in promising organizations with high ambitions of improving communities across Nashville. Their specific focus lies in grants that strengthen the capacity of organizations and increase the number of people that can be reached.

"We are honored to support the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund and the HCA Healthcare family through the immediate and near term needs as a result of the recent hurricanes and flooding in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina," said Corinne Bergeron, executive director and chief executive officer of The Frist Foundation. "On behalf of our Board of Directors, we support HCA Healthcare employees and their immediate families in need and offer this gift in honor of all who are working to care for patients, each other and their communities."

The HCA Healthcare Hope Fund is governed by an independent Board of Directors comprised of employees from across the country. Since inception, it has helped HCA Healthcare colleagues by providing over $113 million through more than 60,000 grants.