Since joining HCA Healthcare in 2020, Galen College of Nursing has helped address the national nursing shortage exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic by expanding access to nursing education

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: HCA), one of the nation’s leading healthcare providers, today announced Galen College of Nursing is opening a new campus in Asheville, North Carolina, as it continues to expand opportunities to educate a growing number of future nurses amid a national shortage.

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts there will be an average of 194,500 registered nursing jobs available annually over the next decade. The Asheville campus, which is expected to open in late September, will be the eighth new campus Galen College of Nursing has opened since joining HCA Healthcare in January 2020. At the time, Galen offered nursing programs across five campus locations, as well as an online campus, and had a total enrollment of approximately 7,100. When the Asheville campus opens, Galen College of Nursing will have 13 campus locations. Galen’s total enrollment is expected to reach approximately 10,000 this year.

“Our partnership with Galen College of Nursing enhances our ability to care for our patients and support our nurses while helping to address the national nursing shortage,” said Sam Hazen, chief executive officer of HCA Healthcare. “Nurses are the backbone of our organization, and we look forward to continuing to work with Galen to advance the practice of nursing and nursing education.”

HCA Healthcare has more than 93,000 registered nurses holding positions from bedside caregivers to leadership roles in various healthcare settings and at every level throughout the organization. Bringing Galen into the HCA Healthcare family was designed to combine two leading nursing organizations to increase access to nursing education and to provide nursing career development opportunities for HCA Healthcare colleagues.

“As part of HCA Healthcare, our potential to impact the lives of so many across the country has never been greater – not only by creating more opportunity for so many more called to nursing to achieve their dreams, but through the care those future nurses will provide to the people in our communities. Together, we are expanding access to quality nursing education, enhancing our programming and creating more career advancement opportunities for nurses,” said Mark Vogt, chief executive officer for Galen College of Nursing. “Galen graduates are having a profound impact on patient care across the country and we are focused on continuing to nurture a pipeline of potential nurses critical to healthcare in our communities.”

Today approximately 1,900 HCA Healthcare colleagues are enrolled at Galen College of Nursing to help advance their careers. HCA Healthcare has loan repayment and tuition assistance programs for eligible colleagues.

In addition, opportunities for collaboration between clinical practitioners and faculty are expected to help enhance teaching by connecting evidence-based practice to the delivery of nursing education. To that end, Galen and Sarah Cannon, the Cancer Institute of HCA Healthcare, recently collaborated to develop an oncology care elective that will be available next month and teaches recent advances and emerging trends in oncology nursing care.

The other campuses Galen College of Nursing has opened since joining HCA Healthcare are in Pembroke Pines, Fla., Gainesville, Fla., Sarasota, Fla., Nashville, Tenn., Myrtle Beach, S.C., Richmond, Va., and Austin, Texas.

Please click here to learn more about nursing at HCA Healthcare.

About HCA Healthcare

Nashville-based HCA Healthcare is one of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare services comprising 182 hospitals and approximately 2,300 ambulatory sites of care, including surgery centers, freestanding ERs, urgent care centers, and physician clinics, in 20 states and the United Kingdom. With its founding in 1968, HCA Healthcare created a new model for hospital care in the United States, using combined resources to strengthen hospitals, deliver patient-focused care and improve the practice of medicine. HCA Healthcare has conducted a number of clinical studies, including one that demonstrated that full-term delivery is healthier than early elective delivery of babies and another that identified a clinical protocol that can reduce bloodstream infections in ICU patients by 44%. HCA Healthcare is a learning health system that uses its more than 35 million annual patient encounters to advance science, improve patient care and save lives. Please click here to connect with HCA Healthcare on social media.

About Galen College of Nursing

Founded over 30 years ago, Galen College of Nursing is one of the largest educators of nurses in the United States. With a focus solely on nursing education, Galen offers master’s, baccalaureate, associate, and practical/vocational nursing programs to over 9,000 students on its campuses in Louisville and Hazard, KY; San Antonio and Austin, TX; Tampa Bay, Miami, Gainesville, and Sarasota, FL.; Cincinnati, OH; Nashville, TN; Myrtle Beach, SC; Richmond, VA; and online. Galen is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award associate, baccalaureate, and master’s degrees. Programmatic accreditation status for Galen’s programs can be found at https://galencollege.edu/about-galen/accreditation. For more information about Galen College of Nursing visit galencollege.edu.

All references to “Company,” “HCA” and “HCA Healthcare” as used throughout this document refer to HCA Healthcare, Inc. and its affiliates.

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