CEO Sam Hazen said on the system’s Jan. 24 earnings call that HCA believes it is finding opportunities to extend the reach of its networks into new communities and fully integrate those facilities into the larger hospital system. He said this is “part and parcel to our network development strategy.”
HCA averages about 14 outpatient facilities per hospital, CFO Mike Marks said.
Speaking at Morgan Stanley’s Global Healthcare Conference in September, Mr. Hazen said that the system’s approach is to take as many outpatient facilities as we can and make it closer to the patient.”
“That’s convenient for the patient, different price points for the patient and so forth, very efficient for the patient, but for us as a system, what it does is it opens up the opportunity for us to interact with the patient upstream, and if they need acute care downstream, we can integrate them, hopefully by having the necessary programs, services or physicians in our network and receive them if they need acute care offerings,” Mr. Hazen said at the conference.
Mr. Marks also said on the Jan. 24 earnings call that the system now has 124 ASCs.
“We feel good about our ambulatory surgery center network,” Mr. Marks said. “They’re an important part of our overall network and the markets we serve, and it will continue to be a part of network development and optimization strategy in ’25 and beyond.”
