HCA, which operates 164 hospitals and 114 surgery centers in 20 states
and England, and the CDC Foundation today announced a $1 million cash
donation by HCA to the CDC Foundation to help support international
Ebola epidemic response efforts involving the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) and their work with partners on the ground
in West Africa.
“The U.S. and other nations around the world are surging our response to
combat the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in an effort to save thousands
of lives from this terrible disease,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden,
M.D., M.P.H. “It’s still possible to reverse this epidemic and this
contribution from HCA, and hopefully others like it, will help scale and
speed up our response.”
HCA is one of the leading providers of healthcare services in the U.S.
and has a long history of supporting relief efforts including those
following the earthquake in Haiti, the Indonesian tsunami, Hurricane
Katrina and Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The $1 million cash
donation by HCA was made to the CDC Foundation’s Global Disaster
Response Fund.
“Ebola continues to spread rapidly in West Africa, and CDC and others
have made it clear that the window of opportunity to contain the virus
is closing quickly,” said R. Milton Johnson, President and Chief
Executive Officer of HCA. “The time to act is now, and we strongly
encourage other companies, particularly those in the healthcare
industry, to join us in this important effort to save lives.”
Since the CDC ramped up its Ebola response in early July, more than 700
CDC staff members have provided logistics, staffing, communication,
analytics, management and other support functions. The CDC currently has
more than 100 staff deployed in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra
Leone. The CDC Foundation is working with donors like HCA to provide
much-needed supplies and equipment for use on the ground in West Africa.
These items include personal protective equipment, infection control
tools, ready-to-eat meals, generators, vehicles and motorcycles, hiring
of locally employed staff, exit screening tools and supplies at airports
such as thermal scanners to detect fever.
The Ebola epidemic in West Africa is a humanitarian crisis. The number
of individuals infected with the Ebola virus doubles approximately every
three weeks with more than 5,800 cases, based on the latest estimates.
Tragically, the number of deaths has increased from 1,500 to more than
2,800 in the same time period. These numbers are only expected to climb
without immediate action.
“Without additional public health interventions made possible by
donations like that from HCA, CDC estimated that the number of Ebola
cases in Liberia and Sierra Leone could reach hundreds of thousands or
even to over one million people,” said Charles Stokes, President and CEO
of the CDC Foundation. “It’s critical that organizations support this
vital effort to provide flexible funding that can be used to meet needs
on the ground in West Africa. Together, we can all make a difference.”
About HCA
Founded in 1968, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) is one of the
nation’s leading providers of healthcare services, comprising locally
managed facilities that include 164 hospitals and 114 freestanding
surgery centers in 20 states and England. Last year, HCA employees and
caregivers at the company’s affiliated hospitals were responsible for
more than 20 million patient encounters. A leader in quality and patient
safety, 80 percent of HCA’s licensed affiliated U.S. hospitals as of
December 31, 2012 were on The Joint Commission’s 2013 list of top
performing hospitals.
About CDC Foundation
Established by Congress, the CDC Foundation helps the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) do more, faster, by forging
public-private partnerships to support CDC’s work 24/7 to save lives and
protect people from health and safety threats. The CDC Foundation
currently manages more than 200 CDC-led programs in the United States
and in 58 countries around the world. Since 1995 the CDC Foundation has
launched more than 700 programs and raised $400 million to advance the
life-saving work of CDC. For more information, please visit www.cdcfoundation.org.
All references to “Company” and “HCA” as used throughout this release
refer to HCA Holdings, Inc. and its affiliates.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20140925005536/en/
HCA Holdings, Inc.
Ed Fishbough, 615-344-2810
or
CDC Foundation
Claire Greenwell, 404-443-1126
cgreenwell@cdcfoundation.org