HCA Appoints Dr. Jonathan B. Perlin Senior Vice President, Quality, and Chief Medical Officer

NASHVILLE, Tenn., July 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- HCA today announced the appointment of Dr. Jonathan B. Perlin as Senior Vice President, Quality, and Chief Medical Officer, effective August 17.

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Dr. Perlin was previously Undersecretary of Health in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. As the Chief Executive Officer of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Dr. Perlin led the nation's largest integrated health system.

"We are very pleased to welcome Jon to HCA," said Richard M. Bracken, President and Chief Operating Officer of HCA. "His accomplishments at the VHA are impressive and his background is a great fit for our company. He is well known in the industry as an innovator in the areas of quality, patient safety and health information technologies. I am confident Jon's leadership will build on the success of HCA's quality and patient safety initiatives to make them even better."

He replaces Dr. Frank Houser, who will retire at the end of the year. Bracken praised Dr. Houser's tenure with HCA, saying, "Frank has done a great job building our patient safety and quality programs. His efforts have made HCA an industry leader in many areas and significantly improved the care delivered to patients in our hospitals. We wish him the best in his retirement."

As Senior Vice President, Quality, and Chief Medical Officer, Perlin will provide senior clinical direction, oversee monitoring, and lead the effort to continually improve quality at HCA's approximately 180 hospitals. He will be responsible for leading and advancing HCA's extensive patient safety initiatives, including the use of an electronic medication administration record and barcoding to reduce medication errors, numerous perinatal safety efforts designed to help ensure the health of babies and mothers, improving emergency room technology and processes, and clinical improvement in cardiovascular, orthopedics and oncology. He will also oversee HCA's Quality Review System, which measures clinical outcomes, satisfaction and regulatory compliance to improve hospital clinical quality.

At the VHA, Dr. Perlin directed the provision of care to more than 5.3 million patients annually by more than 200,000 healthcare professionals at 1,300 sites, including hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, counseling centers and others. During his tenure, the VHA became recognized as a leader in clinical informatics and performance improvement, and in setting national benchmarks in patient satisfaction and for 294 indicators of quality in disease prevention and treatment.

Dr. Perlin joined the VHA in 1999 and has served as Chief Quality and Performance Officer, Acting Chief Research and Development Officer, and Deputy Undersecretary of Health in addition to his most recent position as Undersecretary of Health. Prior to joining the VHA, he was Medical Director for Quality Improvement at the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals - Virginia Commonwealth University Health System. He also held appointments at Richmond VA Medical Center.

A Fellow of the American College of Physicians, Dr. Perlin has a master's of science in health administration. He received his Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology (performing research in molecular neurobiology) with his M.D. as part of the Medical Scientist Training Program at Virginia Commonwealth University's Medical College of Virginia Campus.

All references to "Company" and "HCA" as used throughout this document refer to HCA Inc. and its affiliates.