Nashville’s HCA Healthcare has acquired Mission Health, a six-hospital system in Asheville and western North Carolina, for approximately $1.5 billion.

“The team at Mission Health has been nationally recognized for providing high-quality patient care, and we’re excited that they’ve joined HCA Healthcare,” says Sam Hazen, CEO of HCA Healthcare. “We’re looking forward to investing in western North Carolina and helping ensure Mission Health’s 133-year tradition of caring for communities throughout the region continues for many years.”

Mission Health, recognized as one of the nation’s top 15 health systems by IBM Watson Health in six of the past seven years, is now a new operating division of HCA Healthcare.

HCA Healthcare will build a 120-bed inpatient behavioral health hospital in Asheville and will build a new replacement hospital for Angel Medical Center in Franklin, North Carolina.

HCA Healthcare will also complete the new state-of-the-art Mission Hospital for Advanced Medicine in Asheville.

HCA reports 6.2% revenue boost in Q4

HCA Healthcare, Inc., fourth quarter revenues totaled $12.274 billion, an increase of 6.2 percent compared to the previous year.

Net income attributable to HCA Healthcare, Inc. totaled $1.064 billion, or $3.01 per diluted share

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) totaled $2.508 billion, an increase of 6.2 percent

Cash flows from operating activities totaled $2.175 billion, compared to $1.734 billion in the prior year’s fourth quarter.

Revenues in the fourth quarter of 2018 increased to $12.274 billion, compared to $11.562 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017.

State’s new business filings up 10% in Q4

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett has announced new business filings increased more than 10 percent during the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to the previous year.

This marked the fourth consecutive quarter of new business increases in excess of 10 percent in the state.

The Tennessee Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators report showed that 9,837 new entity filings were recorded in the final quarter of 2018 and a total of 42,914 new entity filings were processed by the state’s Division of Business Services the entire calendar year.

Tennessee has recorded 29 consecutive quarters of positive year-over-year growth in the number of new business filings.

Among the state’s four largest counties, Davidson County recorded the greatest number of new filings, with 2,206 – a 9.4 percent increase over fourth quarter 2017.

Shelby County saw the second largest number of filings at 1,811 new business filings, an impressive growth of 12.2 percent over fourth quarter 2017.

TEDxNashville lists 2019 speaker lineup

TEDxNashville 2019, themed “A World of Change, A World of Hope,” will feature stories of hope, innovation and change as audience members get to experience critical conversation and the positive impact of human creativity March 2 at the Tennessee Performing Srts Center.

Scheduled speakers are:

Kelly Goldsmith, Marketing professor at Vanderbilt University and named as one of eight Young B-School Professors on the Rise by Fortune Magazine

Mark Burnette, information and cyber security expert at LBMC and professor at Belmont University

Scott Hamilton, Olympic figure skating champion, cancer survivor, television broadcaster, motivational speaker and author

Dan Gardner, “The Uncertainty Illusion.” Consultant and author of books about making good decisions in an uncertain world

Chris Kukk, professor, Western Connecticut State University, a Fulbright Scholar, author, co-host of the Compassionate Achiever podcast, and founding director of the Center for Compassion, Creativity & Innovation

Collin O’Mara, CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, America’s largest wildlife conservation organization

Henry Hicks, consultant, banker, investor and CEO of the National Museum of African American Music

Dr. Yaa Kumah-Crystal, endocrinologist and pediatrician, assistant professor at Vanderbilt UMC and project lead for the Vanderbilt EHR Voice Assistant initiative.

Dr. Kristine Klussman, Harvard trained psychologist, connection researcher, author and speaker

Abai Schulze, entrepreneur, artist, designer, founder and creative director of ZAAF and recipient of the UNESCO Tremplin Prize for Entrepreneurship

Martesha Johnson, Nashville Metropolitan public defender, the first African-American to be elected to this position, and adjunct professor at Vanderbilt Law School

Ketch Secor, Front man for Grammy-award winning Old Crow Medicine Show, children’s book author and co-writer with Bob Dylan of platinum hit “Wagon Wheel”

Fallon Wilson, director of research at Black Tech Mecca and co-founder of Black in Tech Nashville who earned her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago

Sabrina Savage, astrophysicist at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center who earned her Ph.D. from Montana State University.

Tickets, information

TDEC searching for environmental achievers

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is inviting Tennesseans to submit nominations for the 2019 Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Awards.

The Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Awards include 10 unique categories: Building Green, Clean Air, Energy and Renewable Resources, Environmental Education and Outreach, Environmental Education and Outreach (school category), Land Use, Materials Management, Natural Heritage, Sustainable Performance, and Lifetime Achievement (professional and volunteer).

Any individual, business, organization, educational institution or agency is eligible, provided it is located in Tennessee and the project was completed during the 2018 calendar year. All nominees must have a minimum of three consecutive years of overall environmental compliance with TDEC. Self-nominations are encouraged.

A panel of judges representing agricultural, conservation, forestry, environmental, and academic professionals will select award recipients based on criteria including level of project or program completion, innovation, and public education. The deadline for nominations is April 30. Award recipients will be announced in June 2019.

Information

Community Foundation seeks scholarship apps

The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, a charitable organization connecting generosity with need in 40 Middle Tennessee and three Kentucky counties, is accepting scholarship application through March 15, 2019, 11:59 p.m. CST, at www.cfmt.org.

The Foundation administers more than 125 scholarship funds established by individuals, companies and civic groups. Students may be eligible for multiple scholarships and need only apply once.

The Community Foundation’s scholarship program supports individuals from various backgrounds and communities seeking funding for educational opportunities.

In 2018, The Community Foundation awarded 353 scholarships to 332 students worth $644,000 to students pursuing secondary educational goals at accredited schools throughout the United States.

List of scholarships and the online application

Hilton adds meeting space in Green Hills

The Hilton Nashville Green Hills, with 210 guest rooms and 6,500 square feet of indoor flexible meeting space, has opened.

“Green Hills is a quickly growing region near Nashville’s downtown, and Hilton Nashville Green Hills will provide its residents and visitors with much-needed event space and full-service amenities within its new, modern design,” says Rob Schaedle, founder and president of Chartwell Hospitality LLC, an integrated hotel operations and development company.

The hotel includes a 3,306-square-foot ballroom can accommodate as many as 330 people and can be divided into three separate rooms.

Härth is the hotel’s on-site restaurant serving locally sourced American fare. There is an outdoor rooftop lounge which also has an additional 3,500 square feet of semi-private event space.

Sound Royalties launches Nashville location

Sound Royalties, a music industry specialty finance firm, has opened in The Gulch. CEO and founder Alex Heiche will work from the Nashville office.

The company has locations in South Florida and Los Angeles and is active in New York, Atlanta, Chicago and Austin.

“Nashville isn’t just the country music capital, it is the music capital of the world,’’ Heiche says. “Beyond those who already live here, creatives from all genres of music travel here to play shows, record music and collaborate with other artists.

“It’s important to us that we establish a dedicated space in Nashville, to enhance our commitment to the community and its music professionals.”

The company offers musicians advice on its creative-friendly financing services. Sound Royalties allows musicians to retain copyrights and receive overflow income.

Steve Bogard, board president of Nashville Songwriters Association International, adds: “Sound Royalties is a safe and sensible option to support the growth of creatives’ careers. The company’s flexible model works for songwriters in a variety of situations – an up-and-coming young writer, an established artist who wants to fund a new project, or an experienced songwriter managing multiple revenue streams.”