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HCA Healthcare is an American for-profit operator of health care facilities that was founded in 1968. It is based in Nashville, Tennessee and in 2019 it managed 185 hospitals and 119 freestanding surgery centers,[2] including surgery centers, freestanding ERs, urgent care centers, and physician clinics in the United States and United Kingdom.[3] HCA went public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 1969 followed by a substantial growth period for the next two decades. The company was ranked No. 67 in the 2019 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.[4] In 1993, lawsuits were filed against HCA by former employees who drew attention to the company’s questionable billing practices to Medicare for hundreds of millions of dollars.[5] Some of the allegations included charging the government costs for running its hospitals, paying kickbacks to physicians for referrals, and unlawfully charging for costs involving wound care facilities. A federal probe ensued, spanning nearly a decade, and culminated in 2003 with “the government receiving a total of over $2 billion in criminal fines and civil penalties for systematically defrauding federal health care programs.”[6] The federal probe has been referred to as the longest and costliest investigation for health-care fraud in U.S. history.