Houston, TX – HCA Healthcare Gulf Coast Division, part of HCA Healthcare, is proud to announce HCA Healthcare’s $500,000 donation to the American Red Cross through the organization’s Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP). This is HCA Healthcare’s fifth year participating in the annual giving program, which helps provide funding for strong infrastructure, trained volunteers, innovative technology and critical resources necessary to respond to a disaster.
Each year, the Red Cross responds to more than 60,000 disasters of all sizes. This pre-investment in disaster relief helps Red Cross workers, 90 percent of which are volunteers, have the infrastructure, resources and technology to provide care and comfort to those in need. As an Annual Disaster Giving Program member and a leading healthcare provider, HCA Healthcare also works alongside the Red Cross to respond in real-time, including coordinating supplies and resources, supporting shelters and matching patients with community shelters when discharged from the hospital.
“We are proud to support the American Red Cross, an organization of immeasurable value during times of crises,” said Troy Villarreal, president of HCA Healthcare Gulf Coast Division. “With 19 hospitals spanning the Texas Gulf Coast region, we have experienced our fair share of disasters that have impacted our communities. This donation reaffirms our shared values and our commitment to, and support of, the Red Cross for the tremendous work they do for disaster relief.”
HCA Healthcare is well-versed at responding to a disaster. The Company’s Enterprise Emergency Operations Center (EEOC), a multi-disciplinary incident response team of nearly 200 leaders, regularly works with experts across the HCA Healthcare enterprise to provide resources and coordinate responses during a crisis. Last year when Hurricane Ian made landfall on the west coast of Florida, the EEOC quickly responded and transferred more than 185 patients within 16 hours, averaging one patient every five minutes. In the days after, HCA Healthcare set up on-site mini-marts with critical household goods, fuel stations, showers and laundry services for colleagues. HCA Healthcare has also contributed to and uses the Red Cross RC View, an advanced geographic information system (GIS) and data visualization tool that provides emergency response teams with a shared disaster response capability.
HCA Healthcare has provided more than $6 million in financial support to the Red Cross for disaster relief efforts over the last seven years, including Hurricane Harvey in 2017, hurricanes Florence and Michael in 2018, the Texas winter storms in 2021 and the tornadoes in Kentucky that same year. In 2022, HCA Healthcare gave $258,000 to the Red Cross through direct donations and colleague matching to aid in Hurricane Ian relief efforts in Florida, and $100,000 during historic flooding in Kentucky.
In addition to investing in disaster preparation, HCA Healthcare established the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund to support colleagues in disasters. The HCA Healthcare Hope Fund is an employee-run, employee-supported 501(c)(3) charity that provides financial aid and resources to employees after an extended illness, injury, disaster or other special situations. In 2022, the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund provided $12 million in grants that helped more than 4,400 HCA Healthcare colleagues and families.