internal
Samuel N. Hazen
Chief Executive Officer
Executive
6 yr
13 reports
HCA Healthcare, Inc. ·HCA
Highly centralized C-suite governs 190 hospitals without regional CEOs
Healthcare · Fortune #58 · Divisional structure · 294K employees · Nashville, TN
View as of:
4
CEO span
↓ tighter than peers (avg 8)
2.4
Avg span
tight
3
Max depth
flat for 294K emp
5 yr
Avg tenure
stable vs FY2024
75%
Internal hires
↑ above industry avg
Consolidated financials FY2025 · period end 2025-12-31 · 10-K
Revenue
$75.6B
Net income
$6.8B
Total assets
$60.7B
Shares out
224M
Sourced from HCA Healthcare, Inc. DEF 14A · filed 2026-03-13 ↗ View on SEC
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HCA Healthcare, Inc. organizational chart
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Highly centralized C-suite governs 190 hospitals without regional CEOs. This page maps HCA Healthcare’s enterprise leadership structure, detailing its executive team, reporting lines, tenure, compensation context, recent leadership changes and peer comparisons.
What to model
Use the chart to test org decisions, not just view reporting lines
Start with the public baseline, then use the scenario views and source-backed changes to ask what happens when leadership, span, or team ownership shifts.
Latest signal Robert J. Dennis departed as Director
Announced retirement from the Board effective April 23, 2026.
Source · See change logScenario views in the chart
- Add Chief AI Officer Create a Chief AI Officer role reporting to the CEO to coordinate clinical, operational and financial AI initiatives.
- Elevate Compliance to CEO Move the compliance function to report directly to the CEO, signaling heightened regulatory focus.
Atlas work this supports
- Connect Workday or UKG Get these analytics for YOUR org — tenure, span of control, headcount, automatically from your HRIS.
- Connect Salesforce Map your target accounts like this. Import contacts, visualize decision chains, plan multi-threading.
- Plan a Reorg Use this as a starting point. Model scenarios, compare structures, present options to your board.
The people
Who's running this
5 executives identified as Named Executive Officers in the most recent SEC proxy. Bar length scales with tenure.
internal
Jon M. Foster
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Operations
5 yr
3 reports
Michael A. Marks
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Finance
3 yr
2 reports
internal
Michael R. McAlevey
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal and Administrative Officer
Legal & Administration
7 yr
2 reports
internal
Michael S. Cuffe, M.D.
Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer
Clinical
4 yr
2 reports
The pay
Executive compensation
From the most recent DEF 14A Summary Compensation Table. 5 named executive officers disclosed. Bar length scales with total compensation.
Samuel N. Hazen $26.5M
- Base salary
- $1.58M
- Stock awards
- $8.47M
- Option awards
- $8.51M
- Non-equity incentive
- $5.42M
- Pension change
- $1.93M
- Other
- $539K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
Michael A. Marks $10.4M
- Base salary
- $982K
- Stock awards
- $1.78M
- Option awards
- $1.78M
- Non-equity incentive
- $2.42M
- Pension change
- $3.31M
- Other
- $84K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
Jon M. Foster $11.0M
- Base salary
- $1.04M
- Stock awards
- $1.90M
- Option awards
- $1.91M
- Non-equity incentive
- $2.56M
- Pension change
- $3.42M
- Other
- $154K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
Michael R. McAlevey $5.7M
- Base salary
- $1.01M
- Stock awards
- $1.27M
- Option awards
- $1.27M
- Non-equity incentive
- $1.99M
- Other
- $168K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
Michael S. Cuffe, M.D. $5.7M
- Base salary
- $975K
- Stock awards
- $1.27M
- Option awards
- $1.27M
- Non-equity incentive
- $1.92M
- Other
- $267K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
The skin in the game
Beneficial ownership
Insider stock holdings and the company's ownership requirements for executives and directors. Disclosed in the most recent DEF 14A.
| Holder | Shares | % of class |
|---|---|---|
| Samuel N. Hazen | 2.16M | <1% |
| Michael A. Marks | 134K | <1% |
The businesses
How HCA Healthcare, Inc. divides the work
4 divisions report into the group CEO. Tile size scales with estimated headcount.
Hospital & Ambulatory Operations
250K employees
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (Jon M. Foster)
Oversees operations of hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and outpatient facilities across all markets.
Finance
3K employees
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (Michael A. Marks)
Responsible for financial reporting, capital structure, treasury and investor relations.
Clinical & Quality
5K employees
Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer (Michael S. Cuffe, M.D.)
Leads clinical quality, patient safety and physician engagement across the system.
Legal & Administration
2K employees
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal and Administrative Officer (Michael R. McAlevey)
Oversees legal affairs, compliance, governance and administrative services.
The thesis
Why this org is unusual
HCA Healthcare’s most distinctive structural feature is that all operating control remains centralized at the enterprise C-suite level, with no publicly named regional or divisional CEOs reporting to the chief executive.
Instead, the CEO directly oversees functional and clinical executives who govern a nationwide portfolio of 190 hospitals and extensive outpatient assets.
This structure reflects HCA’s long-standing model of standardized operations, capital allocation and clinical governance, while delegating day-to-day execution to facility-level management teams rather than empowered regional presidents. The COO role is critical, aggregating responsibility for hospital, ambulatory and supply-chain performance across geographies.
Compared with other large hospital systems, HCA’s structure emphasizes scale efficiencies and consistency over regional autonomy, reinforcing strong central oversight of quality, compliance and financial performance.
- No named regional or divisional CEOs
- Strong COO role consolidating operations
- Long-tenured internally promoted CEO
The comparison
How HCA Healthcare, Inc. stacks up
Among large U.S. hospital operators, HCA Healthcare stands out for its unusually centralized leadership model. Peers such as Tenet Healthcare and Universal Health Services employ more visibly segmented group or regional leadership layers, while nonprofit systems often elevate market presidents with broad P&L …
C-suite size
HCA Healthcare, Inc.
5
Encompass Health
7
Reporting depth
HCA Healthcare, Inc.
3 levels
5 levels
5 levels
5 levels
Encompass Health
4 levels
Avg C-suite tenure
HCA Healthcare, Inc.
5 yr
4 yr
Encompass Health
5 yr
Has COO / Has CAIO
HCA Healthcare, Inc. ✓ COO — no CAIO
Encompass Health ✓ COO — no CAIO
Current signals
What changed recently
Most notable recent change was the retirement of long-serving director Robert J. Dennis in April 2026.
- departed
- new
Leadership Timeline
Year-over-year executive structure based on SEC proxy and annual filings.
FY2025
DEF 14A filed 2026-03-13
- CEO
- Samuel N. Hazen
- CEO span
- 4
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 5 yr
Leadership remained stable with long-tenured internal executives.
Named executive officers (5)
- Samuel N. Hazen - Chief Executive Officer since 2019
- Michael A. Marks - Chief Financial Officer since 2022
- Jon M. Foster - Chief Operating Officer since 2020
- Michael R. McAlevey - Chief Legal and Administrative Officer since 2018
- Michael S. Cuffe, M.D. - Chief Clinical Officer since 2021
FY2024
DEF 14A filed 2025-03-14
- CEO
- Samuel N. Hazen
- CEO span
- 4
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 4.5 yr
No major C-suite turnover.
FY2023
DEF 14A filed 2024-03-15
- CEO
- Samuel N. Hazen
- CEO span
- 4
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 4 yr
Continued centralized operating structure.
Year-over-year changes
Leadership composition remained unchanged while average tenure increased.
- Avg tenure: 4.5 → 5 yr
The board
Board of directors
7 directors. 6 of 7 independent (86%). Source: most recent DEF 14A.
John W. Chidsey, III
Independent
CEO, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.
Also on: Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.
Nancy-Ann DeParle
Independent
Managing Partner, Consonance Capital Partners
William R. Frist
Inside
Principal, Champion & Co. Inc.
Hugh F. Johnston
Independent
Senior EVP and CFO, The Walt Disney Company
Also on: Microsoft Corporation
Michael W. Michelson
Lead Indep. Independent
Former Senior Advisory Partner, KKR & Co.
Wayne J. Riley, M.D.
Independent
President, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
Andrea B. Smith
Independent
Former Chief Administrative Officer, Bank of America
Also on: World Kinect Corporation
The board, organized
Board committees
2 standing committees. Audit and Compensation must be 100% independent under SEC rules; the rest vary.
Audit & Compliance Committee
100% independent
- John W. Chidsey, III
- Michael W. Michelson
- Wayne J. Riley, M.D.
- Andrea B. Smith
Compensation Committee
100% independent
- John W. Chidsey, III
- Michael W. Michelson
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the CEO of HCA Healthcare?
Samuel N. Hazen has served as Chief Executive Officer since 2019.
What type of organizational structure does HCA Healthcare use?
HCA uses a divisional operating model with highly centralized executive control.
How many direct reports does HCA Healthcare's CEO have?
The CEO has four direct executive reports.
How has HCA Healthcare's leadership changed recently?
In 2026, director Robert J. Dennis retired from the board, and John W. Chidsey III joined in mid-2025.
Does HCA Healthcare have a COO?
Yes. Jon M. Foster serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
Sources
- Form 8-K, Feb 25, 2026
- Form 8-K, Jul 11, 2025
- SEC EDGAR: HCA Healthcare, Inc. DEF 14A Proxy Statement
- SEC EDGAR: HCA Healthcare, Inc. 10-K Annual Report
Reference
Cite this page
If you reference this page in research, analysis, or news writing, use one of the formats below. Citation includes the SEC filing source where applicable.
APA 7th
Creately. (2026). HCA Healthcare, Inc. organizational structure. Creately. Retrieved , from https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/hca-healthcare/MLA 9th
"HCA Healthcare, Inc. Organizational Structure." Creately, April 1, 2026, https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/hca-healthcare/. Accessed .Chicago 17
Creately. "HCA Healthcare, Inc. Organizational Structure." Last modified April 1, 2026. https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/hca-healthcare/.Original SEC source View on SEC ↗
HCA Healthcare, Inc.. DEF 14A. Filed 2026-03-13. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/860730/000119312526106142/d939252ddef14a.htmPermanent URL: https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/hca-healthcare/ · last updated 2026-04-01