Hospital Corporation of America

Matt Gaetz falls behind as George Gainer widens fundraising gap in SD 1 race

Published on December 10, 2015 in Statewide/Top Headlines by Drew Wilson

Republican Bay County Commissioner George Gainer passed Shalimar Republican Matt Gaetz in fundraising in October, and the gap between the two Senate District 1 candidates got a bit wider last month, according to recently filed campaign finance reports. Gainer posted $42,285 in November contributions and spent $57,313, leaving him with $557,747 on-hand heading into December. Though he spent more than he brought in, Gaetz did the same, and to a greater degree. The House District 4 representative raised $13,900 last…

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HCA, UCF College of Medicine announce residency program to help cut physician shortage

Published on October 13, 2015 in Apolitical/Top Headlines by Phil Ammann

A new Central Florida education alliance seeks to retain medical residents as a way to reduce the state’s physician shortage. Hospital Corporation of America’s North Florida Division announced today a partnership with the University of Central Florida College of Medicine for a program to increase the number of residencies and fellowships in Florida. The consortium — HCA North Florida’s largest academic partnership to date — strengthens the existing relationship between UCF and HCA to help solve a persistent nationwide physician shortage. It seeks…

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Rick Scott’s office pulling IRS filings, making public records requests, to get hospital executives’ salaries

Published on July 1, 2015 in Statewide/Top Headlines by Christine Jordan Sexton

Gov. Rick Scott’s blue-ribbon commission on health care and hospital spending asked Florida hospitals in May to provide the state with information about the salaries and compensation packages of their top executives. Two months later, only four facilities have voluntarily provided that information, Agency for Health Care Administration Deputy Secretary Molly McKinstry told members of the Commission on Healthcare and Hospital Funding on Wednesday in Jacksonville. Commission Chairman Carlos Beruff acknowledged that there still is “a lot of missing information”…

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Let’s Get to Work raises $275K in May

Published on June 10, 2015 in Statewide/Top Headlines by Drew Wilson

Gov. Rick Scott’s political committee, Let’s Get to Work, raised $275,000 in May, including a $100,000 check from Jupiter businessman and trustee of the DeGeorge Charitable Trust, Lawrence F. DeGeorge. The contributions push the committee’s yearly total to $2.6 million, though they are markedly lower than the monster hauls brought in during the legislative session months of March ($1 million) and April ($687,500). The total came from just 16 contributions, including contributions from three divisions of Scott’s former company, Hospital Corporation of America, which…

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For-profit hospitals ask Gov. Rick Scott to raise their taxes

Published on May 19, 2015 in Statewide/Top Headlines by Christine Jordan Sexton

The for-profit hospital chain Hospital Corporation of America is asking Gov. Rick Scott to raise taxes on hospitals. Presidents from the four HCA hospital regions in Florida sent a letter to Scott regarding the Commission on Healthcare and Hospital Funding saying that the Low Income Pool is not a long- term solution and that Scott consider increasing a tax hospitals currently pay and putting the new revenue into an increase in hospital base rates. Current base rates are insufficient to…

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Rick Scott’s commission is focusing on the costs

Published on May 6, 2015 in Top Headlines by Christine Jordan Sexton

Gov. Rick Scott issued an executive order identifying nine areas he wants a blue-ribbon healthcare commission to examine regarding healthcare costs in Florida, including how much money “taxpayer-funded” hospitals spend on lobbyists, campaign contributions, and advertising. This is the second healthcare commission the governor has created since 2011 and, like its predecessor, it has a focus on the care delivered at “taxpayer supported” hospitals. In the May 5 executive order, Scott spells out the profitability percentages in 2012 and 2006 for…

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HCA pledges up to $1M in Nepal earthquake aid

Published on April 29, 2015 in Apolitical/Top Headlines by Phil Ammann

Hospital Corporation of America is reaching out to Nepal earthquake victims with pledges of up to $1 million in aid through a trio of international disaster relief organizations. The Nashville-based healthcare giant will give $250,000 to Doctors Without Borders and $250,000 to MedShare International, a nonprofit that provides surplus supplies and equipment to underserved populations. HCA officials also pledged to match donations of up to $500,000 from HCA employees and vendors to the American Red Cross for supporting Nepal earthquake relief.…

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