Hospital Corporation of America (NYSE: HCA), a leading healthcare provider with 164 hospitals and 115 ambulatory surgery centers in 20 states and London, England, has been named one of the Ethisphere Institute’s 2014 World’s Most Ethical Companies.

This is the fifth consecutive year HCA has achieved this recognition from Ethisphere, an independent center of research, best practices and thought leadership that promotes best practices in corporate ethics and governance. There are 144 organizations on Ethisphere’s 2014 World’s Most Ethical Companies. HCA is one of only eight healthcare services organizations honored this year.

“Being named one of Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies is recognition for our more than 200,000 employees because the rigorous selection process looks at organizations’ day-to-day operations,” said Alan Yuspeh, HCA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer. “This achievement is a source of pride for all of us at HCA because it is a reflection of our values of compassion, respect and integrity.”

In addition to HCA’s long-standing, industry-leading ethics and compliance program, which has served as a model for others, the company is a leader in environmental practices among healthcare companies. Increasingly, the company is purchasing eco-friendly products, using sustainable building materials, enhancing recycling efforts and using energy and water more efficiently. HCA has installed both solar and geothermal energy sources at facilities and helped lead an industry effort to create standardized environmental questions for healthcare purchases. HCA is a member of Practice GreenHealth and a charter member of the Healthier Hospitals Initiative, two organizations that champion eco-friendly practices in healthcare.

HCA also has been a pioneer in establishing an improved charity care and uninsured discount policy, which has been emulated by hospitals across the country. Later, HCA became one of the first providers to make detailed pricing information publicly available. HCA facilities provide extensive health care to individuals who are unable to pay for such care. In addition, the company is active philanthropically, supporting agencies that promote health and well-being, support childhood and youth development and foster the arts in Middle Tennessee. The HCA Foundation has awarded grants totaling approximately $22 million since 2009.

According to Ethisphere, World’s Most Ethical Company honorees understand the correlation between ethics, reputation and daily interactions with their brand.

“The entire community of World’s Most Ethical Companies believe that customers, employees, investors and regulators place a high premium on trust and that ethics and good governance are key in earning it,” said Ethisphere’s Chief Executive Officer, Timothy Erblich. “HCA joins an exclusive community committed to driving performance through leading business practices. We congratulate everyone at HCA for this extraordinary achievement.”

The World's Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute’s Ethics Quotient™ framework, and scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (25%), reputation, leadership and innovation (20%), governance (10%), corporate citizenship and responsibility (25%) and culture of ethics (20%). The full list of the 2014 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at http://ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical/wme-honorees/.

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