COVID cases are up across the nation and the need for quality patient care has never been greater. This is a critical time for many communities and for many of our hospitals. 

While 2020 will likely be associated with a global public health crisis, we’ll also be reminded of the many ways our HealthTrust Workforce Solutions and HCA Healthcare family banded together to take care of our communities and each other.

Thank you for being a part of HealthTrust Workforce Solutions and HCA Healthcare and for making a profound difference to those we serve.  You continue to rise up with resilience to meet the challenges brought on by this pandemic. Your unwavering commitment to our patients and your support for each other is inspirational and much appreciated.   On behalf of the entire HealthTrust Workforce Solutions leadership team, we thank you for continuing to provide quality, patient care on the frontlines in the fight against COVID. Together we can overcome this monumental challenge. 

What we’re made of is incredible people. People like Stephanie Aguirre, a relief charge nurse that cares for HCA Healthcare patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Mercy Hospital in Miami, Fla.

Stephanie reflects on working the frontlines of #COVID19: “I always feel proud for trying my absolute best during times of uncertainty. Alongside my amazing team, I am able to take care of patients who are intubated, in septic shock and/or on multiple medications. After days of working hard, you get to see them recuperate and get transferred out of intensive care. I feel a huge sense of gratitude knowing that I have made a difference in someone’s life. Through this experience I have learned no matter the roadblock that’s put in front of me, I have the strength and perseverance to keep pushing forward. Giving up is never an option.”

Thank you to Stephanie, and all our front line heroes, for your unwavering dedication to provide lifesaving care in times of need. You are true heroes.

We are excited to share that our new website launched today! The new and improved healthtrustjobs.com has been completely reimagined to feature a fresh, visually-appealing design and easy-to-navigate interface. The site invites our visitors to engage with HWS in new and meaningful ways as they craft their own interactive experience.

• The HWS brand and our HCA Healthcare relationship takes center stage featuring our size, scale and reach.
• The website allows visitors to connect with our brand, understand our culture and core values, and easily search and apply to jobs.
• A live facility location map features geo-location mapping technology which allows users to easily visualize jobs in their area of interest and explore more about each of our facilities.
• Our search process has been revamped to provide users with more filters and more precise targeting to cater to their unique career interests.
• Enhanced content showcases our full scope of career areas and promotes our in-demand “hot jobs”.
• Behind the scenes, advanced search engine optimization is in place to allow for greater exposure and visibility across the Internet and the site is designed to adapt to a wide range of devices and browsers.

Go go ahead, what are you waiting for? Check Out the New HealthTrust Website!

“When I was little, I used to think that the white uniforms nurses used to wear made them look like angels. That’s when I knew I wanted to be a nurse… I knew I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives,” said Lucy Sebastian, a HCA Healthcare cardiovascular (CV) intensive care unit (ICU) nurse.

Lucy has been a nurse at Westside Regional Medical Center for 12 years. While she never thought the day would come that she would be faced with a pandemic, she knew it was a possibility, and she has met the challenge willingly.

“Being a cardiovascular nurse always fascinated me. The high acuity of CV patients with ventricular assist devices, IABP and open heart surgeries is what really captivated me. When I chose to become a nurse, I was well aware of the possibility of a pandemic and the epidemics of infectious disease,” said Lucy. “My job as a nurse is to take care of my patients, my colleagues and my community in their most vulnerable time. I do this by providing quality and safe care, while maintaining a safe environment for the entire healthcare team.”

Thank you, Lucy, and all of our frontline colleagues who continue to rise up with resilience to meet the challenges brought on by this pandemic.

At the onset of COVID-19, management and conservation of personal protective equipment became a crucial part of the equation to ensure our frontline caregivers are supported as they care for patients.

“We are blessed to have all the PPE and equipment we need to appropriately care for our patients while staying protected,” said Noel Edwards, an HCA Healthcare nurse at Rapides Regional Medical Center in Alexandria, Louisiana. “Our workload has increased but we have adapted, communicated and come together to provide the best care for our COVID-19 patients.”

Read more about our supply chain heroes who work hard to ensure facilities and staff have the supplies necessary to support high-quality care, even during a global pandemic ➡️ https://bit.ly/2AngZsr

While our 4^th of July celebrations may feel a bit subdued as we continue to practice social distancing, the reason for our celebration shines more brightly than ever before. We feel it is especially important to take a moment to honor those who have dedicated their lives to preserving our freedom, calling to mind the core values our country was built upon.  

Today we are surrounded by an abundance of talk about what divides us as a country. In celebration of this most patriotic of holidays, now is a time to turn the conversation toward what we share in common with one another – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

We hope you and your loved ones  have a safe, healthy and enjoyable 4^th of July holiday weekend!

Although COVID-19 has separated us, the virus has also caused us to stand firm and grow closer together. At the heart of what we do, we strive to take care of people, both patients and employees. In an effort to reduce the hardships produced by COVID-19, The Frist Foundation has donated $1 million to support colleagues affected by the COVID-19 to the HCA Healthcare Hope Fund.

The HCA Healthcare Hope Fund is a charity that assists HCA Healthcare employees and their immediate families who are affected by financial hardship, including our own HWS team members. The HCA Healthcare Hope Fund has provided over 700 HCA Healthcare employees within the last three weeks with financial assistance to reduce the financial loss caused by COVID-19.

Click here to read more about The Frist Foundation's charitable donation and HCA's efforts to reduce the negative impact created by COVID-19.

Everyone can use a comforting friend or a word of encouragement during the pandemic. As these unprecedented times lead to increased loneliness and anxiety, the fight to overcome COVID-19 is better with a companion by your side. For healthcare workers at HCA Healthcare's Rose Medical Center, their companion just happens to be a one-year-old Labrador.

Wynn, the furry Labrador who is being trained by emergency physician Susan Ryan, is a known on-call friend within the hospital. When needed, Wynn provides comfort to staffers in a room that is prepared to decrease stress. However, before staffers are able to interact with Wynn, they must thoroughly wash their hands to help reduce any spread of COVID-19. 

Click here to read more about Wynn's impact within Rose Medical Center. 

The availability of N95 respirators and other critical personal protective equipment (PPE) has been a major area of concern during the pandemic. As hospitals around the globe begin to run low on essential equipment, HealthTrust Workforce Solutions' parent company, HCA Healthcare, reassures the public of the hospital's adequate supply and the guidelines that are being taken to preserve it's resources. 

Click here to read HCA Healthcare's blog to learn more about HCA's dedication to the highest quality patient care and the organization's priority for safety. 

Our parent company, HCA Healthcare is teaming up with Google Cloud and SADA to launch a data portal for the COVID-19 pandemic. The open data platform will help accelerate analysis and response by aggregating data on ICU bed and ventilator utilization, testing results, and total number of patient visits to America’s hospital systems. 

HCA Healthcare is proud to collaborate with Google Cloud on the announcement of the COVID-19 National Response Portal, an open data platform built and operated by SADA. Running on Google Cloud, the platform is intended to promote data-sharing about the COVID-19 pandemic and how it is spreading in an effort to help hospitals and communities prepare and respond.

“COVID-19 presents a unique and significant challenge to healthcare providers, and collaboration and coordination is more important than ever to help ensure the best possible response,” said Dr. Edmund Jackson, HCA Healthcare’s chief data officer. “While COVID-19 has driven us apart physically, we will respond to it by coming together digitally. We are proud to work alongside Google Cloud to create a platform to help address this urgent public health challenge.”

The COVID-19 National Response Portal is intended to enable healthcare providers across the country to safely share and display anonymous, aggregated metrics from hospital systems into a single platform to show a complete and real-time view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data can be submitted each day from hospital systems across the United States and will be focused on metrics such as:

• ICU bed supply and utilization;
• ventilator supply and utilization;
• total numbers of positive, negative, and pending COVID-19 test results;
• and total numbers of healthy patients who have been discharged.

The platform will also have the ability to leverage publicly available datasets, such as data on local shelter-in-place policies, and traffic or mobility patterns, to help shed light on how public behaviors and policies may impact the spread of COVID-19.

“Healthcare organizations need access to accurate and timely information around the country to plan for care and respond to COVID-19,” said Philip Moyer, Vice President, Industry Sales at Google Cloud. “We’re proud to team up with HCA Healthcare and SADA in the launch of this important new data resource for care providers on the front lines.”

“As healthcare providers, we are all battling the same crisis,” said Michael Wargo, vice president of emergency preparedness at HCA Healthcare. “However, we are being faced with COVID-19 at different times and levels of severity. By pooling our data into one cohesive platform, we can share best practices to better prepare communities across the country for this unprecedented pandemic.”

As a learning health system, HCA Healthcare uses data from approximately 35 million annual patient encounters to improve care through research and innovation. HCA Healthcare, which will provide statistical data from its 185 hospitals, structured in a manner to comply with HIPAA and other applicable restrictions, has invited groups representing approximately 4,000 hospitals across the country to join and share data on the platform.

HCA Healthcare, SADA and Google Cloud are in the process of sharing additional details and seeking to onboard other hospitals. The platform is expected to go live to the public next week.

Hospitals interested in learning more and submitting data should visit onboarding.nationalresponseportal.com.