HCA to build five new hospitals in Texas
The Nashville-based health system has invested approximately $6.6 billion over the last five years, including other expansions currently in progress.
Photo: Rich Legg/Getty Images
HCA Healthcare plans to build five new full-service hospitals in Texas to meet the state's growing population and need for healthcare services.
The new hospitals will be located in the Dallas Fort-Worth area; Houston area; in San Antonio, in partnership with Methodist Healthcare Ministries; and two will be in the Austin area, in partnership with St. David's Foundation and Georgetown Health Foundation.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The new facilities will complement the health system's already existing presence in several rapidly-growing communities across Texas, HCA said.
"Communities across Texas are undergoing a rapid increase in population, and the addition of these new hospitals will help our existing network meet the increasing need for healthcare services," CEO Sam Hazen said.
HCA Healthcare currently has 45 hospitals and 632 affiliated sites of care in Texas and serves communities across the state, including Austin, El Paso, the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, San Antonio, Houston, Corpus Christi and the Rio Grande Valley.
THE LARGER TREND
The Nashville-based, for-profit health system has invested approximately $6.6 billion over the last five years, including other expansions currently in progress. HCA said it provides care to more patients than any other provider in the state.
HCA has183 hospitals and approximately 2,000 ambulatory sites of care in 20 states and the United Kingdom.
In contrast to the HCA expansion, another large health system in Boston, Mass General Brigham, has been told to implement a cost-savings plan as it seeks to spend $2.3 billion on improvements at two of its hospitals and create three new ambulatory sites in Massachusetts.
Today, the day after HCA announced its expansion, the organization released its financial and operating results for the fourth quarter that ended December 31, 2021.
Net income attributable to HCA Healthcare totaled $1.814 billion compared to $1.426 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020. Results for the fourth quarter of 2021 include gains on sales of facilities of $563 million.
For the fourth quarter of 2021, adjusted EBITDA totaled $3.149 billion, compared to $3.118 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Same-facility admissions and same-facility equivalent admissions increased 0.6% and 4.1%, respectively, in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to the prior-year period. Same-facility emergency room visits increased 19.6% in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to the prior year period. Same-facility inpatient surgeries declined 1.2% and same-facility outpatient surgeries increased 5.2% in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to the same period of 2020.
ON THE RECORD
"The Omicron surge started to influence our business in early December," Hazen said by statement." Overall, our teams continued their tremendous response, and the effects of the pandemic's ever-changing conditions were managed well as reflected in our fourth quarter financial results."
Twitter: @SusanJMorse
Email the writer: susan.morse@himssmedia.com
