HCA Healthcare, the parent company of the Medical City hospitals, and Health Care Services Corporation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas’ parent company, were both recognized by the Ethisphere Institute as two of 2019’s World’s Most Ethical Companies.
Ethisphere has been evaluating the positive impact of international corporations since 2007, and celebrates the growing influence of value-based leadership, diversity and inclusion, and a constructive use of a company’s voice in corporate operations. The organization believes that financial value and ethics are linked, noting that the companies listed on the most ethical list outperformed companies with large market capitalization by over 10 percent over a five year period. This year, they recognized 128 honorees spanning 21 countries and 50 industries.
HCA Healthcare, comprising 185 hospitals and 1,800 care sites in 21 states across the country, has been named to the list for the 10th year in a row. Last year, Medical City alone provided $319 million in charity, uninsured discounts and other uncompensated care.
“This prestigious recognition reflects the culture across the Medical City Healthcare system of hospitals, urgent care centers and care facilities as well as throughout HCA Healthcare,” says Erol Akdamar,, President of Medical City Healthcare via release. “We are very proud to be part of an organization that has earned our community’s trust through integrity, leadership and outstanding care.”
At insurance giant HCSC, ethical behavior factors into employees annual review, and they have instituted a “Speak Up” campaign to highlight how employees should report integrity questions or concerns. In regard to diversity, HCSC highlighted that 61 percent of management positions are held by women, and 33 percent are held by people of color.
“Our ability to retain our members’ trust and our reputation of excellence is directly aligned with our employees’ commitment to integrity,” said Tom Lubben, senior vice president and chief ethics, compliance and privacy officer, HCSC via release. “We evolve our ethics programs based on employee feedback. A key insight we received is that employees feel most comfortable confiding ethics concerns to their managers.”
“Over the last 12 years, we have repeatedly seen that those companies who focus on transparency and authenticity are rewarded with the trust of their employees, their customers and their investors. While negative headlines might grab attention, the companies who support the rule of law and operate with decency and fair play around the globe will always succeed in the long term,” explained Ethisphere CEO, Timothy Erblich via release. “Congratulations to all of the 2018 honorees.”
See the entire list of World’s Most Ethical Countries here.
