HCA Healthcare CEO to retire, COO promoted

Amy Baxter | | Health Exec | Management
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HCA Healthcare's R. Milton Johnson is retiring as CEO of the Nashville, Tennessee-based healthcare services company. Sam Hazen, the company’s president and chief operating officer (COO) will succeed Johnson as CEO on January 1, 2019. Hazen has also been appointed as a member of the board of directors.

Johnson will officially retire on December 31, 2018, and will continue as chairman of the board of directors through the company’s 2019 annual shareholders' meeting on April 26. At that time, he will retire from the board of directors, which plans to appoint Thomas F. Frist III as chairman. Johnson has served as CEO since 2014.

HCA Healthcare operates 178 locally managed hospitals and approximately 1,800 sites of care in 20 states and the U.K., including surgery centers, freestanding ERs, urgent care centers and physician clinics.

Hazen has been with HCA Healthcare for almost 36 years, serving as COO, president of operations, Western Group president and Western Group CEO. With Hazen’s addition to the board of directors, the number of members has increased from 11 to 12.

“As head of the company’s operations for over seven years, I have worked with all our stakeholders—including patients, physicians, employees, shareholders and the board—to fulfill that commitment,” Hazen said in a statement. “In this transition and beyond, I pledge to use my leadership role to continue our focus on providing the best possible care for patients, as well as building on our successes for all our stakeholders.”

Frist is the son of HCA Healthcare founder Thomas Frist, Jr. and has been on the board since 2006. He chairs the finance and investments committee. The Frist family owns approximately 20 percent of HCA’s outstanding shares.

Amy Baxter
Amy Baxter

Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."

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