ORANGE PARK – Orange Park Medical Center, an affiliate of HCA Healthcare, one of the nation’s leading healthcare providers, announced that it has been recognized for the 11th time by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, as one of the 2021 World’s Most Ethical Companies. HCA Healthcare, comprising more than 2,000 sites of care including 185 hospitals across 20 states, is one of only seven honorees in the Healthcare Providers category.

The COVID-19 pandemic was at the forefront of 2020 and HCA Healthcare responded by protecting its colleagues and patients, and by partnering with others to improve care beyond the organization. HCA Healthcare has not laid-off a single employee due to the pandemic, and in April, it instituted a pandemic pay program, which allowed the organization to continue to pay more than 127,000 colleagues, even when their hours were affected by the significant decrease in patients visiting hospitals across the country.

As a learning health system, HCA Healthcare analyzes data from its approximately 35 million patient encounters each year to develop best practices that improve patient care. To help combat COVID-19, the health system teamed up with Google and SADA on a data portal to help communities prepare and respond to COVID-19, offered more than $1 million to local community partners to aid in coronavirus relief efforts and participated in the White House collaborative to provide up to 1,000 ventilators to other health systems.

Orange Park Medical Center has a long history of investing in Clay County. In 2020, OPMC and Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville have contributed more than $120 million to the community by providing charity care, uninsured discounts and other uncompensated care as well as donations to community organizations. As part of its sustainability plan, HCA Healthcare seeks to protect and preserve the environment inside and outside of its facilities by encouraging the reduction of energy usage throughout its facilities and considering the environment in all new construction and renovation projects. In 2020, HCA Healthcare hospitals across the country were honored with 60 national Practice Greenhealth awards for their steadfast sustainability efforts.

“We are honored to serve in Clay, Duval and St. Johns Counties and are proud of the positive impact we have had, not just on our hospital operations, but also on our patients, colleagues and the communities we serve,” said Lisa R. Valentine, FACHE, Chief Executive Officer of Orange Park Medical Center.

Recognition by Ethisphere is in part affirmation of HCA Healthcare’s commitment to fostering a culture of diversity and belief that excellence in healthcare starts with a foundation of inclusion, compassion and respect. HCA Healthcare continues to deliver on this promise exemplified in recent diversity and inclusion efforts, including its award-winning BRAVE Conversations program, which provides colleagues an opportunity to discuss complex topics in a safe and respectful setting. HCA Healthcare also announced a $10 million investment over the next three years in Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutions.

Additionally, in response to a heightened focus on racial injustice, HCA Healthcare instituted a provisional social justice match, which supported gifts from colleagues to organizations and nonprofits supporting racial justice and addressing health equity for communities of color. In total, HCA Healthcare and its colleagues helped make an impact of $227,364 across 21 total organizations from June 5 to July 31, 2020.

“While addressing the tough challenges of 2020, HCA Healthcare led through resilience and a commitment to ethics and integrity,” said Ethisphere CEO, Timothy Erblich. “The World’s Most Ethical Companies honorees continue to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to the highest values and positively impacting the communities they serve. Congratulations to everyone at HCA Healthcare for earning the World’s Most Ethical Companies designation.”

In 2021, Ethisphere recognized 135 honorees spanning 22 countries and 47 industries. The full list of the 2021 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees.