HCA Healthcare is an American for-profit operator of health care facilities that was founded in 1968. It is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and, as of May 2020, owns and operates 186 hospitals and approximately 2,000 sites of care, including surgery centers, freestanding emergency rooms, urgent care centers and physician clinics in 21 states and the United Kingdom. As of 2021, HCA Healthcare is ranked #62 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. The company engaged in illegal accounting and other crimes in the 1990s that resulted in the payment of more than $2 billion in federal fines and other penalties, and the dismissal of the CEO Rick Scott by the board of directors. By conducting large-scale clinical research with partners including the Harvard Pilgrim Institute and the CDC, and using data gathered from their patients, HCA Healthcare has published several medical studies in peer-reviewed journals, including the REDUCE MRSA study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. History Early years Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) was founded in 1968 in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas F. Frist Sr., Thomas F. Frist Jr. and Jack C. Massey. The founders envisioned a company that would bring together hospitals to deliver patient-focused care while using the combined resources of the organization to strengthen hospitals and improve the practice of medicine. The company began with Nashville's Park View Hospital, which the elder Frist had founded in 1960 with other doctors and where he was serving as chief executive. The company included 11 hospitals when it filed its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 1969 and had 26 hospitals and 3,000 beds by the end of the year. Growth and merger The 1970s were characterized by rapid growth in the industry and for HCA Healthcare. In the early 1980s, the focus shifted to consolidation with HCA Healthcare acquiring General Care Corporation, General Health Services, Hospital Affiliates International and Health Care Corporation. By the end of 1981, the company operated 349 hospitals with more than 49,000 beds. Operating revenues had grown to $2.4 billion. In 1987, HCA Healthcare, which had grown to operate 463 hospitals (255 owned and 208 managed), spun off HealthTrust, a privately owned, 104-hospital company. Believing its stock was undervalued, the company completed a $5.1 billion leveraged management buyout led by chairman Thomas F. Frist, Jr. in 1988. HCA Healthcare re-emerged