HCA Healthcare (NYSE: HCA) today presented the HCA Healthcare Awards of Distinction to recipients at a ceremony in Nashville. The HCA Healthcare Awards of Distinction include the Frist Humanitarian Award, the HCA Innovators Award and the HCA Excellence in Nursing Award. These annual awards celebrate employees, physicians and volunteers who exemplify the company’s culture and values.

As part of today’s ceremony, HCA Healthcare presented a special honorary Award of Distinction to Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center in Las Vegas, Nevada for their response and courage on October 1, 2017 when a gunman opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers on the Las Vegas strip. As the closest trauma center to the strip, Sunrise treated more than 200 victims in the first hour alone.

“Our hospitals prepare for the worst scenarios imaginable, and pray it never happens,” HCA Healthcare Chairman and CEO Milton Johnson said. “The team at Sunrise reacted quickly and professionally, working together to support each other, reunite families, and save lives. I am incredibly proud of their efforts in the face of overwhelming trauma.”

This mass casualty event was unprecedented in our nation’s history. It was met with an outstanding effort from Sunrise Hospital, as well as support from our entire HCA Healthcare family.

Frist Humanitarian Award Recipients

The Frist Humanitarian Award, named in honor of one of HCA Healthcare’s co-founders, Dr. Thomas F. Frist, Sr. (1910 – 1998), was created in 1971. The award honors individuals within HCA Healthcare who demonstrate a level of commitment and caring that goes beyond everyday acts of kindness, and who inspire colleagues with their compassion and dedication. Recipients of this award are those employees, volunteers and physicians who epitomize the humanitarian principles established by our company founders.

The Frist Humanitarian Award includes a $5,000 donation to the charity of the recipient’s choice and $5,000 for the employee or volunteer. The physician honoree receives a $10,000 donation to the charity of his or her choice.

Recipients of the 46th annual Frist Humanitarian Award are: Lorrie Sarver, BSN, RN, FCN, director of emergency services for Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida; Sami Ismail, MD, a neonatologist at TriStar Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee; and Doris Carson, a volunteer at Regional Medical Center of San Jose in San Jose, California.

“As we celebrate our 50th year as a company, we are reminded of the founding vision to provide the best possible care to patients, with warmth and compassion,” Johnson said. “The recipients being honored today exemplify that commitment and have done extraordinary things through the care they provide and service to others. Put simply, they represent the best of HCA Healthcare.”

Lorrie Sarver, BSN, RN, FCN Memorial Hospital Jacksonville, Florida has been with HCA Healthcare since 2009. She organizes a prison ministry at nine prisons and is passionate about her volunteer work providing outreach to incarcerated individuals and their children. Other community work includes administering free HIV tests and providing education on the importance of early detection of breast and colon cancer.

Sami Ismail, MD, is a neonatologist who has worked at TriStar Centennial Medical Center in Nashville for 29 years. He founded a neonatal intensive care unit in Aleppo, Syria where he continues to assist with training and donation of medical equipment and supplies. Locally, he provides support for NICU families through the March of Dimes and Parents Reaching Out, a support group for parents of hospitalized babies.

Doris Carson is a retired U.S. postal clerk and has been volunteering at Regional Medical Center of San Jose, California for 15 years. As a volunteer, Doris spearheaded a clothing closet program that provides new, clean clothing for homeless and low-income patients with a goal of providing dignity to patients in need. She also volunteers at the local library, teaching children and adults how to read.

HCA Innovators Award Recipients

HCA Healthcare was created through the vision of founders Dr. Thomas F. Frist, Sr., Mr. Jack Massey and Dr. Thomas “Tommy” Frist, Jr., and 50 years later, HCA is a learning healthcare system that continues to invent and develop systems to improve patient care, in large part due to the innovative ideas of employees. The HCA Innovators Award, established in 2010, continues the tradition of recognizing innovative thinkers whose ideas improve patient quality, service or the efficiency of operations. The HCA Innovators Award winners receive $10,000.

Recipients of this year’s HCA Innovators Award are: Aaron Montlary, director of clinical development and innovation for HCA Healthcare IT&S Donna Harrell, RD, LDN, CNSC, division food and nutrition analyst and clinician nutrition lead for HealthTrust; and David Chia, director of application services for the Far West Division.

“Innovation is what continues to set our company apart, so we celebrate the innovative ideas that are leading to better patient outcomes, improved services, and greater efficiency,” HCA Healthcare President and COO Sam Hazen said. “The recipients of this award are problem solvers, who demonstrate a commitment to improving their workplace and to improving patient care.”

Aaron Montlary received the HCA Innovators Award in the service excellence category. Aaron led the “TV as a Platform” initiative to provide an upgraded, more hotel-like in-room experience for our patients. The new healthcare-grade televisions allow patients to not only watch TV, but also view clinical information and send non-clinical requests to caregivers.

Donna Harrell, RD, LDN, CNSC, received the HCA Innovators Award in the quality and patient safety category. Along with her colleagues, Donna streamlined the process to add nutrition assessment data to physician notes, leading to improved identification of malnutrition. This initiative has reduced length of patient stay and reduced readmission rates.

David Chia received the HCA Innovators Award in the financial impact category. Along with his colleagues, David piloted Kronos Active Alerts to display employee information and trends. This innovation aggregates information, making it easier to evaluate and saving time for department directors.

HCA Excellence in Nursing Award Recipients

HCA Healthcare’s knowledgeable and compassionate nurses are on the front line of patient care, every day. The HCA Excellence in Nursing Award, created in 2014, recognizes the intrinsic value of the nursing practice in accomplishing the company mission of providing the highest quality of care to patients and communities. With categories for mentoring and compassionate care, the HCA Excellence in Nursing Award recipients receive $5,000 and a $5,000 donation to the charity of their choice.

Recipients of this year’s HCA Excellence in Nursing Award are: Kerri Tillquist, BSN, RN, The Medical Center of Aurora in Aurora, Colorado; and Edward Lee, BSN, RN, CEN, Medical City McKinney in McKinney, Texas.

“We are fortunate to have so many dedicated nurses working every day to improve the lives of our patients,” Senior Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive Jane Englebright said. “The recipients of this award are inspiring individuals who set the standard for the way we should treat each patient, and each other.”

Kerri Tillquist, BSN, RN, received the HCA Excellence in Nursing Award in the professional mentoring category. Kerri has been with HCA Healthcare for more than 25 years and is dedicated to developing others. She created the Dedicated Education Unit, a collaborative orientation model, and Critical Care Passport, a professional development tool for critical care nurses, which have been used to train and develop nurses across the Continental Division.

Edward Lee, BSN, RN, CEN received the HCA Excellence in Nursing Award in the compassionate care category. As part of the Texas Emergency Medical Taskforce, Edward led a 45-nurse team to help care for 255 victims of Hurricane Harvey. Under his leadership, employee engagement in the emergency room has improved significantly, placing it in the 90th percentile of all ERs.

For more information about the HCA Healthcare Awards of Distinction, please visit www.HCATodayBlog.com.

About HCA Healthcare

Nashville-based HCA Healthcare is one of the nation's leading providers of healthcare services, comprising 178 hospitals and approximately 1,800 sites of care, including surgery centers, freestanding ERs, urgent care centers, and physician clinics, in 20 states and the United Kingdom. With its founding in 1968, HCA Healthcare created a new model for hospital care in the United States, using combined resources to strengthen hospitals, deliver patient-focused care and improve the practice of medicine. HCA Healthcare has conducted a number of clinical studies, including one that demonstrated that full-term delivery is healthier than early elective delivery of babies and another that identified a clinical protocol that can reduce bloodstream infections in ICU patients by 44 percent. HCA Healthcare is a learning healthcare system that uses its more than 28 million annual patient encounters to advance science, improve patient care and save lives. Please click here to connect with HCA Healthcare on social media.

All references to “Company” and “HCA” as used throughout this document refer to HCA Healthcare, Inc. and its affiliates.

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