HCA International
HCA International is a private hospital group, which in the UK operates 6 hospitals and 4 outpatient medical centres in London.[1]
Contents
US private healthcare
HCA International is the overseas wing of HCA Inc., also known as Hospital Corporation of America. It describes itself as "the world’s leading independent hospital company" with a turnover of $26bn, 173 hospitals and 108 outpatient centres, servicing 14 million patients a year.[2]
Lobbying
HCA is a member of the H5 lobby group, which represents the interests of private hospitals in the UK.
Lobbying in the United States
The Wall Street Journal reported in February 2009 that the former CEO of HCA Inc., Richard Scott, had formed an anti-health care reform group called Conservatives for Patients Rights and launched a $20 million campaign to derail President Obama's healthcare reforms.[3] The campaign includes television ads featuring "horror stories" of Canadian and British residents who "allegedly suffered long waits for surgeries, couldn't get the drugs they needed, or had to come to the United States for treatment".[4]
PRWatch notes that "the public relations firm promoting Scott and his front group is a usual suspect. CRC Public Relations - the conservative PR firm previously known as Creative Response Concepts - is the firm "that masterminded the 'Swift boat' attacks against 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry."[5]
Scott was ousted as head of the formerly known Columbia/HCA healthcare firm in 1997 after a fraud investigation
Contacts
242 Marylebone Road
London, NW1 6JL
Url: www.hcainternational.com
References
- ↑ HCA website, accessed Nov 2010
- ↑ HCA website, Key facts and figures
- ↑ Lobbyists Line Up to Torpedo Speech, Wall Street Journal, 26 Feb 2009
- ↑ Swiftboating Healthcare Solutions, PR Watch, 11 May 2009
- ↑ Swiftboating Healthcare Solutions, PR Watch, 11 May 2009
