HCA Healthcare, Inc.

Hospital and Health Care ServicesFounded 1968- HQ today: Nashville, Tennessee

Founders

Who Founded HCA Healthcare?

Dr. Thomas F. Frist Sr., Dr. Thomas F. Frist Jr., Jack C. Massey · Founded 1968 · HQ today: Nashville, Tennessee

Who founded HCA Healthcare?

HCA Healthcare was founded by Dr. Thomas F. Frist Sr., Dr. Thomas F. Frist Jr., Jack C. Massey in 1968 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. It is now led by Samuel N. Hazen.

Founders: Dr. Thomas F. Frist Sr., Dr. Thomas F. Frist Jr., Jack C. Massey
Founded: 1968
Headquarters: Nashville, Tennessee
Number of founders: 3
Current CEO: Samuel N. Hazen (since 2019)

Where was HCA Healthcare founded?: HCA Healthcare was founded in Nashville, Tennessee, United States in 1968. en.wikipedia.org
When was HCA Healthcare founded?: HCA Healthcare was founded in 1968.
Who started HCA Healthcare?: HCA Healthcare was founded by Dr. Thomas F. Frist Sr., Dr. Thomas F. Frist Jr. and Jack C. Massey.
How old is HCA Healthcare?: HCA Healthcare is 58 years old as of 2026.

Founding Story

In 1968, Dr. Thomas Frist Sr., a prominent Nashville cardiologist, and his son Dr. Thomas Frist Jr., a flight surgeon, grew deeply frustrated with the chronic underfunding, administrative chaos, and capital starvation plaguing traditional non-profit and municipal hospitals. Believing that private business discipline could modernize medical infrastructure and improve clinical outcomes, they joined forces with Jack C. Massey, the well-known venture capitalist who had recently acquired and scaled Kentucky Fried Chicken into a national franchising leader. Together, they founded Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), building Park View Hospital in Nashville as their flagship. By applying centralized bulk purchasing for medical equipment, rigorous accounting standards, and professional operational protocols across regional hospital clusters, HCA fundamentally pioneered the modern American for-profit health system.

Dr. Thomas F. Frist Sr.

Background

Internal medicine and cardiology practice in Nashville; U.S. Army Air Forces medical service in World War II.

Role at HCA Healthcare, Inc.

Dr. Thomas F. Frist Sr. (1910-1998) was a Nashville internist and cardiologist who co-founded Hospital Corporation of America in 1968 with his son and Jack C. Massey. He had earlier helped open Park View Hospital in Nashville, which became HCA's first facility, and he believed that pooling capital and management across many hospitals could improve both care and efficiency. Dr. Thomas F. Frist Sr. was born in 1910.

Dr. Thomas F. Frist Jr.

Background

Medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis; flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force before co-founding HCA.

Role at HCA Healthcare, Inc.

Dr. Thomas F. Frist Jr. is a physician and former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon who co-founded HCA in 1968. He served as president, CEO and chairman at various points, led the 1989 management buyout, and his family joined Bain Capital, KKR and Merrill Lynch in the 2006 buyout of the company. He remains one of HCA's best-known figures and a major Nashville philanthropist.

Dr. Thomas F. Frist Jr. was born in 1938. Education: Vanderbilt University; Montgomery Bell Academy.

Thomas Fearn Frist Jr. was born on August 12, 1938. He is described as the wealthiest person in Tennessee.

Jack C. Massey

Background

Surgical supply business owner, then investor in Kentucky Fried Chicken before co-founding HCA.

Role at HCA Healthcare, Inc.

Jack C. Massey (1904-1990) was a Nashville businessman and investor who had bought Kentucky Fried Chicken from Harland Sanders and expanded it. He provided early capital and business experience to HCA in 1968. He is often credited as the first person to take three different companies public on the New York Stock Exchange. Jack C. Massey was born in 1904.

HCA Healthcare, Inc.: CEO & Leadership History

Full timeline →

Michael Schlosser, M.D.

Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer

2026 – Present

As Senior Vice President of Care Transformation, he bridges the gap between clinical operations and technology across HCA's 180+ hospitals.

Michael Marks

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

2023 – Present

As CFO, he manages the financial stability of the massive hospital network amid severe nursing shortages and skyrocketing contract labor costs.

Samuel N. Hazen

Chief Executive Officer

2019 – Present

HCA's revenue grew from $51.3 billion in 2019 to $75.6 billion in 2025 under Hazen, a 43-year company veteran who previously served as president and COO.

R. Milton Johnson

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

2014 – 2018

As CEO, he aggressively pushed the company to acquire massive regional health systems, cementing HCA's status as the largest for-profit hospital operator in the US.

Keep researching HCA Healthcare

Who Founded HCA Healthcare? FAQ

Who founded HCA Healthcare and in what year was the company established?

HCA was founded in 1968 in Nashville by Dr. Thomas Frist Sr., his son Dr. Thomas Frist Jr., and businessman Jack C. Massey, a former owner of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

What was the founding hospital and initial vision behind Hospital Corporation of America in 1968?

The founders built Park View Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. Frustrated by the lack of modern medical equipment and inefficient administration in non-profit hospitals, they founded Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) to unite physician medical leadership with modern business management and private capital.

How did Jack C. Massey's business experience help scale HCA into a national corporation?

Jack C. Massey had expanded Kentucky Fried Chicken after buying it from Harland Sanders. He brought capital and business experience to HCA as the company went public in 1969.

What is HCA's mission statement?

HCA's mission statement reads: "Above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life."

When did HCA complete its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange?

HCA completed its initial public offering on the NYSE in 1969, raising capital to acquire and construct modern community hospitals across the Southeastern and Southwestern United States.

How did the Frist family make Nashville the healthcare capital of the United States?

By establishing HCA in Nashville, the Frist family sparked a healthcare entrepreneurship boom, spawning dozens of publicly traded hospital, behavioral health, and ambulatory surgery corporations that made Nashville the Silicon Valley of healthcare services.

What is the Frist family's philanthropic legacy?

The Frist family supports Nashville institutions through the Frist Foundation, including the Frist Art Museum. HCA separately funds the HCA Healthcare Foundation and the employee-supported HCA Healthcare Hope Fund.

What enduring legacy did the HCA founders leave on the American medical system?

The founders proved that investor-owned hospital systems could deliver superior clinical quality, scale modern medical technology to rural and suburban communities, and pioneer high standards of hospital clinical governance across the nation.

Who founded HCA Healthcare?

It was founded by the Frist family (Dr. Thomas Frist Sr. and Jr.) along with Jack C. Massey. The Frists are incredibly wealthy and politically powerful; Thomas Frist Jr. became a massive billionaire, and his brother Bill Frist served as the Majority Leader of the United States Senate.

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